over  nor 


ARIN    MICHAEOS 

'       ., "BLAND 


THE  GOVERNOR 


BY  THE  SAME  'AUTHOR 

THE  DANGEROUS  AGE:  Letters 
and  Fragments  from  a  Woman's 
Diary. 

ELSIE  LINDTNER 


THE  GOVERNOR 


BY 

KARIN  MICHAELIS 
STANGELAND 

Mi'c.U*£li.s       K*r.n  -, 


- 


TRANSLATED  PROM  THE  DANISH 
BY 

AMY  SKOVGAARD-PEDERSEN 


NEW  YORK— JOHN  LANE  COMPANY 
LONDON-JOHN  LANE— THE  BODLEY  HEAD 
TORONTO—  BELL  &  COCKBURN 

MCMXIII 


Copyright,  1913,  by 
JOHN  LANE  COMPANY 


THE  GOVERNOR 


Kajus  Pleyelt  Poss  van  Ruyter,  known  as  "van 
Devil,"  lord  of  Brakkevold  and  Seven-Isles,  al- 
ways rose  from  his  bed  and  went  out  into  the 
fresh  air  before  the  morning  dew  had  fallen. 
He  did  not  follow  the  level  and  trodden  paths, 
but  preferred  the  secret  ways  where  he  might 
chance  upon  something  that  had  been  hidden, 
forgotten,  or  left  unnoticed.  He  liked  to  creep 
along  the  bottoms  of  ditches,  or  in  the  shadow  of 
thorn-hedges,  and  between  the  high  boundary- 
dykes  of  the  fields,  so  that  he  might  come  upon 
his  work-people  from  the  rear. 

And  then  they  tasted  his  dog-whip. 

It  was  said  that  the  cord  was  always  sticky 
with  blood,  so  furiously  did  he  apply  it,  also 
that,  when  he  laid  it  aside  upon  the  settle  by  the 


2138623 


2  THE  GOVERNOR 

stove,  the  dogs  would  lick  it  to  still  the  pangs  of 
their  unsatisfied  hunger. 

Never  a  day  passed  without  a  visit  to  the 
brick-kiln. 

It  was  well-nigh  a  necessity  of  his  existence  to 
tread  fast  and  deep  into  the  slimy  clay  floor  so 
that  the  lumps  splashed  up  over  his  jerkin,  and 
to  know  that  every  foot's-breadth  of  soil  would 
be  made  into  smooth  red  bricks  that,  piled  to- 
gether, would  bring  him  heavy  silver  and  new 
lands. 

His  talent  for  commerce  came  to  him  from 
Holland,  and  had  been  sucked  in  with  his  moth- 
er's milk. 

The  steep,  irregular  hillocks  along  the  bay, 
where  formerly  goats  and  geese  had  grazed,  he 
cultivated  to  raise  crops.  Wherever  the  horses, 
attached  to  the  heavy  plough,  could  find  no  foot- 
ing he  harnessed  his  peasants  to  it  in  their  place 
— and  this  on  holidays  that  they  might  not  be  in- 
terrupted in  their  daily  work. 

The  little  flesh  that  the  peasants  ate  they  had 
to  cut  from  the  carcasses  of  fallen  cattle,  dead  of 
disease.  With  these  the  butcher  could  do  no 


THE  GOVERNOR  3 

business.  Fish  which,  fresh,  dried,  or  salted, 
formed  their  staple  food,  were  to  be  caught  in 
shoals  in  the  bay  and  along  the  strand.  There 
was  no  sick  man  so  wretched  but  that  he  was 
counted  able  to  handle  eel-spear,  whiting-net, 
or  pike-line. 

Twice  a  year  van  Devil  sent  his  work-people 
to  the  mouth  of  the  fjord  to  dam  up  the  salt 
water.  Strict  attention  was  paid  that  the  beach 
might  be  scraped  clean,  and  the  salt  thus  ob- 
tained was  sold  to  great  advantage. 

The  lord  of  Seven-Isles  had  a  peculiar  method 
of  breeding. 

He  obliged  his  peasants  to  rear  puppies — car- 
ing nothing  for  the  fact  that  it  was  strictly  forbid- 
den by  law  to  keep  many  dogs.  On  the  other 
hand  the  regulation  that  ordered  them  to  be  ham- 
strung in  the  fore-legs  suited  him  very  well  in- 
deed— the  beasts  did  not  run  away  so  easily. 

The  peasants  themselves  must  see  to  it  that  the 
front  teeth  of  these  dogs  were  broken  off  in  good 
time  that  they  might  not  injure  sheep  and  cattle; 
if  they  failed  to  do  this  van  Devil's  wrath  fell 
upon  them.  If  the  coats  were  good  and  long 


4  THE  GOVERNOR 

the  animals  were  caught  and  shorn,  and  the 
women  had  to  weave  and  spin  the  stiff  hair  into 
clothes  for  themselves  and  the  men.  These  kept 
them  warm. 

Rotten  apples  and  turnips,  baked  in  the  ashes, 
formed  the  only  sustenance  that  the  peasants 
were  able  to  give  the  dogs,  and  thus  the  wretched 
curs  were  accustomed  to  keep  themselves  alive 
with  stinking  carrion  and  putrid  fish. 

Refractory  serfs  were  set  to  dig  tree-stumps 
out  of  the  forest-swamps — only  the  bailiff  and  the 
sinners  themselves  could  realize  the  severity  of 
this  punishment.  Often  when  the  hole  yawned 
as  deep  as  a  man's  height  and  the  roots  had  to  be 
worked  out  of  the  evil-smelling  mud,  one  by  one, 
the  men  must  be  yoked  together,  like  oxen,  to 
drag  them  out.  The  harder  they  pulled  the 
deeper  they  sank  into  the  bog,  often  up  to  their 
waists  before  the  roots  gave  way. 

These  were  then  stacked  up  in  heaps  before 
the  brick-kiln  to  dry  in  the  sun  before  they  could 
be  used  for  heating  the  furnace.  Van  Devil  kept 
an  account  of  every  brick,  and  himself  turned 
over  the  heaps  of  ashes  to  look  for  half-charred 


THE  GOVERNOR  5 

stumps  which  the  peasants  might  have  stolen. 
Women  and  children  and  bent  old  men,  crippled 
with  gout,  looked  after  the  baking,  smoothing 
and  stacking  of  the  bricks ;  the  shaping  was  done 
by  capable,  matured  men. 

One  day  a  little  before  sunset,  van  Devil  went 
out  to  measure  the  height  of  the  corn.  As  he  did 
so  a  smell  of  fox  came  to  his  nostrils  and  the  dogs 
began  to  be  uneasy.  But  it  was  only  a  girl  who 
had  wrapped  fox  and  marten  skins  about  her 
smooth,  brown  body.  She  had  her  arms  full  of 
the  foamy  white  wild-flowers  from  the  stems  of 
which  the  herds  cut  flutes.  She  gave  him  no 
word  of  greeting,  and  did  not  make  way  for  him 
in  the  narrow  path  along  the  ditch — but  shoved 
him  so  brusquely  aside  that  it  was  he  who  must 
spring  into  the  thistle-scrub.  He  slashed  at  her 
angrily  with  his  whip,  but  she  caught  the  cord 
with  her  teeth  and  whirled  around  so  quickly 
that  the  handle  slipped  out  of  his  grasp. 

Laughing,  she  stepped  in  front  of. him  and 
flung  the  whip  into  the  field.  Across  his  breast, 
under  the  open  vest,  lay  four  chains  cunningly 
fashioned  out  of  gold  pieces  and  wrought  plates, 


6  THE  GOVERNOR 

and  welded  together  in  the  middle.  She  tried, 
coaxingly,  to  pull  it  from  him,  but  at  that  he 
seized  her  by  the  arms  and  legs  and  threw  her, 
like  a  calf,  across  his  shoulder.  She  kicked  him 
furiously  and  bit  into  his  ear. 

Despite  his  burden  he  puffed  out  his  chest. 
Her  laughter  tickled  him,  rough  and  heavy  as  he 
otherwise  was,  and  now  he  thought  with  satis- 
faction of  his  seigneurial  rights.  So  gaily  did 
he  carry  the  girl  up  the  winding  stair  to  the  castle 
that  she  grazed  her  bare  foot  against  the  stone 
wall  and  screamed.  High  up  he  carried  his  cap- 
tive to  the  battlement  which  the  sun  was  just 
sweeping  with  its  crimson  rays. 

"What  is  thy  name?" 

''Kama!"  she  shouted  into  his  ear,  and  he 
squeezed  her  neck  with  his  strong  hand  until 
she  promised  to  be  as  gentle  as  the  white  lambs 
on  the  slope  under  the  castle.  But  she  might 
also  play  and  spring  about  like  the  lambs  until 
the  sun  set.  He  gave  her  food  and  plenty  of 
drink,  but  so  long  as  an  attendant  was  in  their 
presence  he  hid  her  face  with  his  great  hand — so 
vastly  did  she  please  him. 


THE  GOVERNOR  7 

Then  he  led  her  to  his  bed-chamber.  It  was 
empty,  it  was  large,  its  walls  were  dark.  Van 
Devil  feared  the  night,  and  therefore  he  had 
had  a  bed  made  for  himself  surrounded  by  iron 
rails  as  high  as  a  man,  and  the  spikes  of  which 
were  sharp  as  lances.  To  enter  it  one  must 
mount  three  steps  and  pass  through  a  wide  door 
fastened  from  within  by  bolts. 

In  addition  to  this  howling  dogs  kept  guard. 

She  did  not  wish  to  creep  into  this  prison; 
they  quarrelled  fiercely  over  the  question.  He 
was  the  stronger,  and  he  pulled  her  in  with  him 
onto  the  brown  bearskin. 

On  the  following  morning  she  was  as  if  trans- 
formed, and  would  fain  have  remained  con- 
stantly at  his  side;  but  for  that  he  had  no  relish. 

He  ordered  one  of  his  men,  Tyge  Baden,  to 
take  her  on  horseback  and  ride,  with  spurs,  until 
the  sun  stood  right  over  his  head;  then  he  was  to 
set  the  girl  down,  be  it  in  marsh  or  field,  and  to 
ride  home  alone. 

Tyge  was  faithful  and  did  as  he  was  com- 
manded, though  the  girl  tried  to  cajole  him. 


8  THE  GOVERNOR 

Months  later,  when  the  snow  lay  piled  up  un- 
der the  castle  walls,  she  returned  to  Seven-Isles. 

Van  Deril  heard,  from  his  tower-room,  foot- 
steps on  the  winding  stair,  which  appeared  to 
him  strange;  for  he  could  not  guess  whom  it 
might  be,  seeing  that  no  one  dared  to  disturb  him 
when,  with  red  chalk  and  a  heated  brain,  he 
made  out  his  accounts.  On  all  the  beams  of  the 
ceiling  the  sun  and  the  moon  and  the  course  of 
the  stars  were  painted  and  carved,  but  with  a 
bold  hand  he  reached  up  and  wrote,  in  red  chall^, 
between  the  signs  of  the  heavens,  the  name  of  his 
debtor  or  the  sum  of  silver  collected. 

Now  he  sprang  to  the  door  in  the  belief  that 
he  was  about  to  catch  a  thief.  But  she  who  came 
slowly  towards  him  came  with  a  humble  prayer, 
and  when  he  saw  how  heavily  she  carried  herself 
and  counted  the  months  that  had  passed,  he  grew 
strangely  soft-hearted. 

For  never  before  had  he  given  life  to  another 
being. 

He  himself  led  her  to  the  single  arm-chair 
under  the  bell.  The  latter  hung  and  rusted; 
never  yet  had  he  needed  to  summon  help  by  its 


THE  GOVERNOR  9 

aid.  But  should  it  fall  from  its  place  it  might 
cause  the  death  of  a  man.  Van  Devil  saw,  with 
secret  satisfaction,  how  thickly  the  cobwebs  hung 
about  the  tongue,  binding  it  to  the  metal  walls. 
The  bell  had  been  dug  out  of  the  bog  of  Seven- 
Isles,  still  it  belonged  to  the  church,  and  from 
time  to  time  he  had  been  commanded  to  give  it 
up — but  he  would  not  let  it  go,  and  out  of  re- 
venge evil  tongues  had  prophesied  that,  should 
the  bell  sound  once  more  in  Seven-Isles,  van 
Devil  would  die  a  miserable  death. 

He  listened  gently  to  the  girl's  complaint. 
Two  chests  filled  with  treasure  stood  open,  and 
her  eyes  glittered  as  she  looked  from  the  one  to 
the  other. 

She  told  of  the  were-wolf  that,  despite  the 
darkness  of  the  winter  day,  had  followed  her 
over  moor  and  swamp,  across  the  hills  and 
through  the  river-valleys.  Wherever  she  wan- 
dered seeking  plants  whose  roots  might  give 
form,  strength  and  living  soul  to  the  child,  came 
the  were-wolf,  and  scratched  with  its  claws  in 
the  earth.  With  a  thousand  crosses  and  exor- 
cisms she  kept  it  off,  but  it  came  ever  again,  ever 


io  THE  GOVERNOR 

pursuing  her.  It  wished  to  tear  her  in  pieces 
and  eat  the  heart  of  the  unborn  child.  But  now 
the  lord  of  her  body  must  guard  her  from  the 
monster  that  she  might  bear  her  child  in  peace. 

Van  Devil  took  her  in  his  arms  as  carefully  as 
if  she  were  lady  of  Seven-Isles,  and  carried  her 
into  the  stone  chamber,  where  he  called  his  men 
and  bade  them  prepare  a  bath  for  her.  There 
were  no  women-folk  at  Seven-Isles  to  perform 
a  woman's  duties. 

It  was  only  when  the  room  was  gray  with 
steam  and  the  damp  mounted  up  under  his 
breeches  that  he  thought  of  going  to  shut  his 
treasure-chests;  but  as  the  woman  feared  to  re- 
main alone  and  saw  in  every  corner  the  blood- 
thirsty glare  of  the  were-wolf,  he  soon  returned 
and  kept  watch  with  her  the  whole  night 
through. 

Towards  morning  she  bore  the  boy,  and 
begged  that  he  might  be  named  Runow.  So 
long  as  she  was  suckling  him  she  remained  at 
Seven-Isles,  but  she  was  restless  and  uneasy.  She 
would  not  let  the  child  out  of  her  sight,  but  car- 


THE  GOVERNOR  n 

ried  it  everywhere,  wound  in  a  red  shawl  and 
bound  to  her  waist. 

When  van  Devil  was  absent  she  tried  long 
and  vainly  to  break,  with  her  back,  the  door  of 
the  tower-chamber.  He  never  took  her  into  it 
with  him,  for  he  had  read  in  her  eyes  that  the  one 
sight  of  the  treasure-chests  had  filled  her  with 
morbid  greed.  She  could  not  bear  the  hungry 
howling  of  the  many  dogs,  and  to  please  her  he 
fastened  them  with  chains  at  the  foot  of  the 
tower,  and  gave  them  plenty  to  eat. 

In  the  days  of  spring  she  sought  the  fruit-gar- 
den, which  was  cultivated  and  hedged  in  with 
care  and  industry,  as  van  Devil  required  it  to  be. 
And  she  soon  displayed  such  knowledge  of  the 
plants  that  she  was  of  the  greatest  help  to  the 
gardener.  If,  whilst  she  worked  with  knife  and 
props,  it  chanced  that  a  bird  rose  over  her  head 
into  the  air  she  would  throw  herself  screaming 
on  the  ground;  but  soon  she  accustomed  her 
throat  to  imitate  all  the  bird-notes. 

Van  Devil  saw  well  enough  that  she  was  tired 
of  him,  and  that  she  cast  stolen,  tender  glances 
at  his  men;  but  he  knew  that  not  one  of  them 


12  THE  GOVERNOR 

would  dare  to  touch  her,  no  matter  how  wisely 
she  might  charm.  It  became  his  bitter  pleasure 
to  tease  and  torment  her.  Through  the  child  he 
held  her  in  fetters. 

One  day  he  took  a  chill  and  lay  in  fever 
with  leeches  on  his  breast  and  loins.  Then  the 
woman  was  kind  and  helpful.  The  touch  of  her 
soft  hands  and  the  fleeting  smile  on  her  face  did 
him  good.  She  prepared  hot  potions  for  him 
from  thyme  and  camomile-flowers  and  the  juice 
of  young  carnation-shoots,  and  gave  them  to  him 
to  drink.  The  heat  oppressed  him,  and  he  tore 
down  the  chains  of  the  bed  and  threw  them  onto 
the  floor.  As  he  did  so  he  let  fall  the  key  of  the 
tower-chamber.  Shortly  after  she  left  the  room 
carrying  the  boy  with  her  in  a  shawl  slung  on 
her  back.  She  remained  away  a  long  time.  Sud- 
denly he  remembered  that  the  key  had  fallen 
to  the  ground — and  now  it  was  gone.  He 
sprang  up,  the  leeches  dangling  from  his  body— 
the  key  was  not  there.  Then  he  seized  his  sharp 
hunting-knife  and  crept  up  the  stairs  to  the 
tower.  The  door  stood  open.  She  was  within, 


THE  GOVERNOR  13 

bending  over  the  chests  and  stuffing  her  head- 
kerchief  with  jewelry  and  coins. 

Van  Devil  did  not  pause  to  reflect;  she  found 
no  time  to  cry  out.  He  thrust  the  knife  into  her 
back  from  behind.  She  fell  forward,  and  the 
child  rolled  out  of  the  shawl  into  the  gold.  Van 
Devil  laughed,  and  pushed  him  carefully  aside 
whilst  he  counted  his  treasure  thrice  over.  A 
bracelet  that  he  had  given  the  woman  on  the 
morning  after  Runow's  birth  he  tore  of?  the 
body.  Then  he  called  for  Tyge  Baden,  and, 
with  his  help,  loosened  the  flags  of  the  floor  the 
length  of  a  man  and  three  feet  wide.  They  dsig 
out  the  clay  till  they  came  to  the  oak  beams  at 
a  depth  of  four  feet.  Wrapped  in  its  clothes, 
the  body  was  then  hidden  away,  the  clay  stamped 
down  firmly  and  the  flags  once  more  set  in  placs. 

From  that  day  forth  the  child  was  fed  on  goats' 
milk,  ox-blood,  and  bread  broken  up  in  thin  ale; 
on  these  he  throve. 

In  the  following  year  van  Devil  brought  him 
a  play-fellow.  It  was  said  that  he  had  set  his 
dog  at  a  pregnant  woman  who  was  stealing 
stumps  from  the  brick-kiln.  As  he  saw  that  it 


14  THE  GOVERNOR 

had  her  by  the  throat  he  was  smitten  with  re- 
morse and  tried  to  whistle  it  off.  But  it  was  too 
late.  He  was  obliged  to  pull  away  the  animal 
by  force.  She  was  not  quite  dead,  but  neither 
was  she  quite  alive — she  bore  her  child  at  once 
just  as  her  eyeballs  burst. 

He  stood  there  in  the  midst  of  the  ash-heap. 
It  was  towards  evening.  Wet  mists  wrapped 
him  round.  The  dog  set  up  a  mournful  howl. 
A  strange  feeling  impelled  him  to  stab  it  dead, 
then  he  skinned  it,  wrapped  the  child  in  its  hide, 
and  carried  it  home  to  Runow's  bed. 

The  boy  was  named  Jacob. 

By  day  the  two  children  were  always  together. 
Between  them  there  was  only  this  difference: 
that  Runow  was  considered  as  the  legitimate 
son  of  van  Ruyter  and  would  one  day  inherit 
his  goods  and  lord  it  over  Brakkevold  and  Seven- 
Isles,  whilst  Jacob  was  only  permitted,  by  a 
gracious  whim,  to  live  in  his  neighbourhood. 

At  night  the  boundary-line  was  deeply  drawn. 
For  then  Jacob  must  go  down  to  the  serfs  and 
sleep  amongst  a  lot  of  grim  fellows  whose  jeers 


THE  GOVERNOR  15 

and  noise  deafened  his  ears — but  Runow  was 
shut  into  the  iron-railed  bed  with  his  father. 

He  would  gladly  have  changed  places,  even 
though  the  sour  smell  and  the  thick  darkness  of 
the  cellar  were  not  agreeable,  for  he  feared  his 
father,  feared  the  moonlight  that,  like  a  gigantic 
spider,  span  and  span  webs  between  the  rails 
of  the  bed;  feared  the  lean  dogs  that  slavered 
round  it,  stretching  out  their  tongues  towards  his 
face;  feared  the  velvet  of  the  hangings  that 
looked  like  wet  blood  in  the  moonlight. 
He  was  timid. 

If  he  awoke  at  night  and  saw  the  heavy,  hairy 
body  of  his  father  turn  in  sleep  under  the  bear- 
skin he  was  terrified  and  crept  aside  against  the 
railing.  His  mother  haunted  his  dreams.  Fool- 
ish talk  had  filled  his  imagination  with  visions 
of  which  he  could  not  rid  himself.  It  seemed 
to  him  that  everywhere,  in  the  smell  of  the  dogs, 
in  every  other  odour,  he  could  detect  the  terrible 
stench  from  out  the  flooring  of  the  tower-cham- 
ber high  up  above  the  bed. 

He  knew  that  his  dear  mother  lay  there,  and 
that  she  had  been  called  Kaina. 


1 6  THE  GOVERNOR 

He  could  not  even  bear  to  see  his  father  thrash 
the  dogs.  It  made  him  tremble,  and  blenched 
his  lips. 


Preben  Podewitz  Lindenow  and  Mistress 
Merthe  Bolle  spent  the  early  years  of  their  mar- 
ried life  in  healthy  love-making. 

Twin-daughters  were  the  first-fruits. 

But  as  Mistress  Merthe  and  her  husband  were 
one  day  hunting  wild  boars  her  horse  stumbled 
over  the  roots  of  a  tree,  and  in  the  fall  her  knee 
was  injured  so  that,  for  a  year  and  a  day,  she 
remained  an  invalid  and  obliged  to  keep  her  bed. 

Master  Preben  visited  her  in  friendly  fashion 
every  day  that  passed,  but  the  sun  warmed  his 
skin,  whilst  she  soon  resembled  a  gray  shadow. 
The  talk  between  them  grew  into  dispute.  When 
he  left  the  women's  quarters  he  would  breathe 
deeply  and  sigh  with  relief.  The  black  wound 
on  her  knee  from  which  matter  flowed  was  hor- 
rible to  him. 

Then  the  report  came  to  Mistress  Merthe's 
ears  that  her  beloved  spouse  was  running  after 

all  sorts  of  lasses,  and  holding  orgies  with  light 

17 


i8  THE  GOVERNOR 

women  about  the  country-side.  Poor  Mistress 
Merthe  shut  the  door  in  his  face  and  the  smile 
that  had  formerly  played  about  her  lips  now  dug 
in  both  her  cheeks  a  bitter  furrow. 

The  women's  quarters  looked  onto  the  narrow 
inner  rose-garden  which  had  been  made  high  up 
on  the  ramparts.  In  front  of  her  room  she  caused 
a  hanging  arbour  to  be  built,  with  balcony,  ante- 
room and  stairs.  They  carried  her  out  there  in 
fair  weather  and  she  rested  amongst  her  cushions 
in  the  perfume  of  marjoram  and  sweet  blue  lav- 
ender and  climbing  roses.  There  she  lay  and 
listened  to  the  hum  of  the  bees  and  the  sighing 
of  the  limes — and  to  the  thunder  of  hoofs  when 
Master  Preben  rode  over  the  drawbridge. 

And  meanwhile  her  two  maidens  sang  to  her 
and  told  her  stories. 

One  evening  it  pleased  her  to  be  carried  down 
to  the  green  lawn  and  to  remain  there  until  sun- 
set. Master  Preben  had  not  yet  returned  home. 
The  dew  dripped  from  skin  and  hair,  the  night- 
wind  dried  it  again.  Still  Master  Preben  had 
not  yet  ridden  in  over  the  drawbridge,  and  still 
Mistress  Merthe  lay  and  listened.  When  her 


THE  GOVERNOR  19 

maidens  would  have  carried  her  indoors  she  was 
sleeping  the  gentle  sleep  of  the  dead. 

But  Master  Preben  kneeled  beside  her  corpse 
and  would  not  leave  the  chamber,  and  he  wept 
like  a  woman,  refusing  food  until  her  burial  was 
over. 

The  children,  Hilleborg  and  Brigitte,  ha'd  at 
this  time  scarcely  completed  their  sixth  year. 
Their  father  had  occupied  himself  but  little  with 
them,  their  mother  still  less.  No  wonder,  then, 
that  they  wandered  about  the  highway  and  coun- 
try lanes  with  coarse  words  and  evil  speech  on 
their  tongues,  pitifully  small  though  they  were. 

One  fine,  fresh  morning  a  couple  of  years 
later,  as  the  pair  wallowed  about  in  the  swamp 
where  the  burial-ground  of  the  ancient  manor 
had  once  lain,  Hilleborg  found  a  skull  with  long 
teeth  and  tufts  of  hair  upon  the  cranium.  She 
seized  it  by  this  hair  and  swung  it  round  like  a 
cart-wheel  until  her  arm  ached  and  she  let  it 
fall  to  the  ground.  Brigitte  picked  it  up,  and 
they  played  ball  with  it  until  the  skull  flew  to 
pieces,  and  loosened  teeth  and  yellow  dust  flew 
about  their  ears. 


20  THE  GOVERNOR 

Then  they  caught  the  sounds  of  a  loud  dispute, 
and  hid  themselves  in  the  rushes  to  listen. 

"And  I  will  not  suffer  that  you  accuse  me  of 
theft.  So  truly  as  there  is  a  God  in  heaven  I 
will  run  away  from  the  manor  this  instant.  No 
honest  woman  need  listen  to  your  filthy  speeches. 
To  brand  a  maid  as  a  thief  because  she  honour- 
ably and  piously  wears  a  golden  breast-ker- 
chief, a  present  from  her  blessed  mistress — God 
give  her  a  joyous  resurrection  from  the  grave! 
And  if  I  needs  must  leave  here  on  my  bare  knees 
I  will  not  remain  another  hour.  No  one  who 
would  grant  me  the  charity  of  a  drink  of  cold 
water  would  expect  me  to  herd  with  such  cursed 
cattle  as  you!" 

"Nay,  nay,  Jytte  Malene;  I  did  not  mean  that 
— by  God!  you  have  misunderstood  my  words." 

"You  speak  the  name  of  God  lightly!  Rather 
call  on  that  of  the  devil.  But  in  my  last  prayer 
I  will  beg  God  not  to  let  you  leave  the  world 
until  you  have  shriven  yourself  of  the  sin  that 
you  would  lay  upon  my  shoulders." 

"Jytte  Malene,  Jytte  Malene — you  know  well 
how  kind  and  true  a  friend  I  am  to  you.  You 


THE  GOVERNOR  21 

stood  beside  the  blessed  Mistress  Merthe  on  her 
death-bed  and  you  saw  with  what  bitter  grief  I 
suffered  for  my  sins.  In  her  name  and  for  the 
sake  of  my  innocent  children  I  beg  you  not  to 
quit  the  manor!" 

"Blessed  Mistress  Merthe  is  safe  in  the  grave 
from  your  foul  talk.  Satan  so  has  hold  of  you 
that  you  respect  nothing  more  and  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  accuse  a  defenceless  woman — fie,  fie, 
devil!" 

"Jytte  Malene  —  noble-hearted  maid,  you 
would  not  abandon  me  and  my  little  chil- 
dren!"— 

His  voice  failed  him  as  the  woman  began  once 
more. 

The  pair  left  the  path,  but  for  a  long  while 
after  the  children  sat  still  and  brooded  over  what 
they  had  heard.  Then  Hilleborg  threw  back  her 
head.  "May  she  go  to  death  and  the  devil!  the 
damned  light  o'  love.  By  God,  one  can  smell  her 
long  before  one  sees  her  she  so  drenches  herself 
with  fennel-water  to  make  herself  more  attrac- 
tive! We  can  put  on  our  stockings  without  the 
huzzy,  I  fancy!" 


22  THE  GOVERNOR 

Brigitte,  who  seldom  spoke  many  words  at  a 
time,  added  softly,  "No  woman  has  ever  combed 
the  hair  of  Runow  at  Seven-Isles." 

"Runow,"  repeated  Hilleborg,  and  suddenly 
she  turned  a  fierce  look  upon  Brigitte,  who 
dropped  her  eyes  and  reddened.  Hilleborg 
stooped  and  picked  up  the  broken  jaw-bone,  and 
the  sisters  tripped  away  through  the  yellow- 
green  corn  to  the  river  below. 


When  they  were  about  ten  years  of  age  Runow 
and  Jacob  were  given  a  tutor,  Simen  Brockmann, 
who,  in  addition  to  the  usual  lore  of  children, 
was  to  stuff  them  with  Latin,  the  art  of  reckon- 
ing, and  whatever  else  boys  of  especially  lofty 
birth  might  require. 

Although  Simen  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy 
councillor  of  Ribe,  had  studied  at  foreign  uni- 
versities and  held  the  title  of  Magister*,  he  re- 
ceived in  wages  only  his  food  and  drink,  and 
an  empty  chamber  without  firing. 

Four  long  years  Simen  had  already  lived  like 
an  owl  amongst  crows,  without  a  friend  in  whom 
he  might  confide.  He  had  returned  to  Ribe  just 
as  his  old  nurse,  Sidsel  Pollek,  stood  on  trial, 
accused  of  exorcism  and  of  other  witchcraft. 
For  countless  years  the  folk  had  sought  her  aid 
for  internal  injuries,  hot  and  cold  fevers,  broken 
legs  and  pains  in  the  limbs,  which  she  cured  with 
charms  and  with  herb-broths.  This  was  now 

•Master  of  Arts.— tr. 

23 


24  THE  GOVERNOR 

laid  to  her  charge,  and  a  mass  of  evidence  was 
brought  forward  against  her. 

For  it  invariably  happens  that  gossips  and 
idlers  gladly  help  to  push  on  the  heavy  cart.  Of 
true  and  sworn  witnesses  there  were  none. 
Strongest  of  all  the  evidence  against  her  were 
the  two  dead  fingers  that  she  wore  crossed  on 
her  bare  breast.  For,  as  Soren,  the  thief  who 
hung  on  the  gallows,  had  been  deprived  of  two 
fingers  of  his  right  hand,  the  judge  declared  that 
Sidsel  had  stolen  them  for  her  witch's  magic. 

She  allowed  herself  to  be  laid  on  the  rack  till 
her  limbs  cracked,  but  even  then  she  swore  by 
the  all-seeing  Eye  of  God  that  she  had  twisted 
the  fingers  from  the  hand  of  her  dead  daughter, 
and  laid  them  on  her  breast  to  guard  herself  from 
wasting  of  the  bones  and  other  maladies.  She 
begged  that  her  daughter  might  be  disinterred, 
but  this  was  more  easily  said  than  done,  as  the 
graveyard  was  a  wilderness  of  nettles,  weeds  and 
holes,  where  dogs  and  pigs  rooted. 

Simen  vainly  exercised  his  Latin  and  his 
jurisprudence,  also  he  swore  to  vouch  for  her 
innocence  with  body  and  soul. 


THE  GOVERNOR  25 

As  all  this  was  useless,  he  himself  undertook 
the  hangman's  task,  and,  quite  alone,  dug  in  the 
graveyard  twenty  ells  west  and  twenty  ells  north 
where  Sidsel  believed  that  her  daughter  lay. 
And  he  found  her,  too,  recognizing  her  by  a  long 
tooth  and  two  missing  fingers. 

But  executioner  and  witnesses  were  as  if 
wrapped  in  ass-skins  nine  times  thick  into  which 
nothing  could  penetrate,  and  they  would  not  be 
convinced.  Therefore,  Sidsel  was  burned,  but 
as  a  special  favour  they  bound  a  sack  of  powder 
under  her  back  that  the  fire  might  finish  her 
quickly. 

Since  then  Simen  had  been  avoided  by  his 
family  and  looked  at  askance  by  the  burghers  of 
Ribe.  It  went  so  far  that  his  name  was  called 
from  the  pulpit,  and  he  was  condemned  by  the 
priest  to  the  devil  and  eternal  damnation. 

To  begin  with,  he  laughed,  and  said  that  the 
ban  would  not  harm  him  if  the  fist  but  let  him 
be.  But  he  soon  came  to  feel  that  the  ban  of  the 
church  pressed  more  heavily  than  a  load  of 
stones,  and  hurt  him  more  than  a  flogging.  At 
length  he  was  accused  of  complicity  and  had  to 


26  THE  GOVERNOR 

steal  out  of  the  town-gate  by  night  to  escape  the 
hangman  and  the  gallows. 

In  Viborg  he  learned  that  Kajus  Ruyter  of 
Seven-Isles  wanted  a  tutor.  He  presented  him- 
self and  accepted  the  miserly  conditions  offered 
him. 

Simen  won  the  children's  hearts  after  his  own 
fashion.  He  told  them  more  than  he  taught 
them,  and  much  that  he  had  seen  out  in  the  world 
awakened  their  interest  The  days  passed  in 
reading,  play,  and  fencing,  in  which  Jacob  was 
especially  keen  despite  his  crooked,  stooping 
figure. 

He  loved,  too,  to  deck  himself  in  gay-coloured 
rags.  He  hung  on  Runow's  horse  like  the  tassel 
on  a  peaked  cap. 

Of  an  evening,  when  they  knew  that  van  Devil 
was  hidden  in  his  bed,  they  would  seek  the  ar- 
moury with  Simen.  The  moonlight  shimmered 
on  the  dark-green  window-panes.  From  the 
chimney  came  great  bats  that  flapped  blindly 
here  and  there  under  the  rafters  of  the  ceiling. 
Words  echoed  from  wall  to  wall  and  would  not 
die  away.  Simen  would  seat  himself  on  a  worm- 


THE  GOVERNOR  27 

eaten  stool,  the  children  close  beside  him,  whilst 
he  told  them  tales.  Jacob's  mind  was  the 
quicker,  Runow's  the  more  retentive. 

In  winter  time  the  boys  themselves  would  go 
down  to  the  courtyard  to  fetch  wood.  As,  how- 
ever, van  Devil  would  not  allow  sweet-smelling 
juniper  and  wall-nut  to  be  thus  wasted,  but  only 
turf  and  tree-roots  from  the  brick-kiln,  they 
helped  themselves  as  well  as  they  could  by  mix- 
ing with  their  fuel  sage  and  lavender.  Runow, 
who  loved  a  sweet-scented  fire  or  rich  and  spicy 
food,  would  then  lie  before  the  hearth  and  sink 
into  a  dream  over  Simen's  wise  talk.  Sometimes 
it  would  happen  that  both  lads  fell  asleep,  and 
then  Simen  would  spread  a  skin  over  them  before 
he  went  into  his  own  chamber. 

There  was  little  variety  in  the  run  of  time  at 
Seven-Isles.  What  happened  one  day  would 
also  happen  on  the  same  day  in  the  year  follow- 
ing. Tidings  of  the  death  of  one,  of  the  feud  of 
another,  of  discord  and  strife  in  the  country,  sel- 
dom reached  Seven-Isles,  and  the  little  that  did 
reach  it  van  Devil  kept  to  himself,  knowing  how 
to  hold  his  tongue  in  his  cheek. 


28  THE  GOVERNOR 

Runow  grew  up  lean  in  the  flanks  and  supple 
as  a  weazel.  He  cared  neither  for  wine  nor  beer, 
and  could  not  bear  the  sight  of  blood.  His  voice 
was  soft  and  low-pitched. 

Often  his  heart  would  be  heavy  and  dull  as  if 
after  a  debauch,  and  it  was  only  lightened  when 
he  played  upon  his  little  lute  and  sang  songs  to 
its  accompaniment  that  rhymed  of  themselves. 
If  he  knew  himself  to  be  unobserved  he  sang 
nothing  but  "Brigitte  Lindenow,  Brigitte  Lin- 
denow" ;  but  the  name  formed  for  him  a  hundred 
sweet  little  verses. 


Around  Liinegaard  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  stretched  out  the  great  marsh  girdled  by 
oak-woods  and  hills  covered  with  heather.  Deep 
and  safe  it  lay  there,  so  sheltered  by  the  woods 
that  no  rainy  year  could  spoil  its  rich  industry 
of  peat-cutting.  Every  day  many  dozens  of  peat- 
cutters  were  sent  out  southwards,  and  no  one 
could  pass  along  the  high-road  without  meeting 
the  Liinegaard  oxen  with  their  piled-up  loads. 
And  in  spite  of  this  the  piles  did  not  diminish 
nor  the  peat  fail. 

Gold  lay  here  in  tons,  far  more  than  the  rich- 
est clay-bed  could  produce.  And  although  Pre- 
ben  might  gamble  and  carouse  and  leave  things 
to  take  care  of  themselves,  the  work  continued 
steady  and  sure  as  the  march  of  the  sun  round 
the  earth.  What  folly  squandered,  luck  brought 
in  again. 

Stable-lads  and  serfs  who  were  always  ready 
enough  to  lend  themselves  to  mischief  were  also 


3o  THE  GOVERNOR 

ready  to  give  their  arms  and  their  backs  to  rhe 
work.  And  as  they  worked  they  sang. 

It  was  said  that  Preben  Lindenow  measured 
his  silver  in  drinking-cups  an  ell  in  height,  and 
kept  it  in  open  chambers,  and  that  his  little  girls 
filled  their  caps  with  it  to  toss  into  the  moat. 

And  the  woods  of  Liinegaard  held  thousands 
of  oaks  as  thick  as  walls  that  were  sought  after 
and  purchased  all  over  the  land.  Posts  and 
beams  from  Liinegaard  with  the  red  brand- 
marks  supported  the  walls  of  fortress  and  castle 
for  miles  around. 

And  still  the  woods  grew  no  thinner.  There 
were  always  acorns  enough  for  Liinegaard's 
mighty  herd  of  swine. 

Van  Devil  was  envious  of  the  great  marsh  and 
the  surrounding  oak-woods.  He  brooded  over 
them  by  day  and  he  brooded  over  them  by  night, 
and  willingly  would  he  have  exchanged  Runow 
for  the  Liinegaard  property,  though  Runow  was 
his  dearest  treasure. 

By  the  hour  together  he  would  stand  and  slash 
with  his  whip  at  the  smooth  marsh-water  that  re- 


THE  GOVERNOR  31 

fleeted  his  envious  face;  but  he  could  not  help 
brooding. 

One  morning  he  encountered  the  little  Lin- 
denows  seated  in  a  milk-cart  filled  with  red  cush- 
ions that  hung  down  over  the  wheels.  Runow 
and  Jacob  were  harnessed  to  it.  Hilleborg 
swung  the  whip  over  them:  Brigitte  lay  at  full 
length  staring  at  the  sun. 

And  then  a  solution  of  the  problem  occurred 
to  van  Devil.  He  need  only  wait  until  Runow 
had  attained  maturity.  For  even  through  dark- 
ness and  mist  it  was  clearly  to  be  seen  that  the 
twins  were  most  graciously  disposed  towards 
him. 

Apparently  it  was  especially  Hilleborg,  who  so 
often  rode  up  to  the  castle  late  in  the  evening  on 
an  unbroken  horse,  and  awoke  the  sleeping  ser- 
vants with  her  loud  laughter.  Her  great,  shining 
eyes  hung  constantly  on  Runow,  but  about  her 
lips  played  defiance,  wilfulness  and  coaxing. 
Every  one  must  obey  her — the  brothers,  Simen, 
aye,  even  van  Devil  himself — when  she  com- 
manded an  owl-hunt  or  a  horse-race.  And  as 
time  went  on  she  grew  worse.  As  if  she  were 


321  THE  GOVERNOR 

mistress  of  the  house  she  ordered  wax  candles, 
torches,  and  bright  fires  to  be  lit  in  the  hay-loft 
and  in  every  corner  of  the  tower,  and  however 
bitterly  van  Devil  might  resent  this  mad  extrava- 
gance he  did  not  express  his  thoughts  either  in 
word  or  look. 

Even  when  she  had  a  dusty  barrel  of  sweet 
wine  rolled  into  the  courtyard,  herself  drew  out 
the  plug  with  her  hunting-knife,  drank  out  of 
the  hollow  of  her  hand  and  offered  the  same  to 
the  grooms — even  then  he  kept  silence. 

With  severity  a  man  could  bridle  a  woman's 
caprice  and  a  woman's  temper. 

Hilleborg  wore  no  cap  as  the  good  old  rule 
ordained.  Her  long,  marten-soft  hair  flowed 
freely  over  her  back,  but  weeks  might  pass  in 
which  the  ivory  comb  that  lay  in  a  corner  of  the 
hunting-bag  did  not  touch  it.  Runow  liked  to  let 
his  fingers  glide  through  it  and  cleanse  it  from 
the  dust  of  the  road  and  flakes  of  wool.  As  he  did 
so  he  greedily  drank  in  the  fresh,  mossy  perfume. 
But  if  he  chanced  to  touch  her  arm  or  her  cheek, 
covered  with  silvery  down  like  that  on  the  beech- 
buds,  his  own  flesh  shivered  and  a  warm  thrill 


THE  GOVERNOR  33 

crept  down  his  spine.  Twice,  as  she  suddenly 
turned  and  bit  into  his  lip  with  her  teeth,  disgust 
rendered  him  speechless — as,  however,  she  threw 
up  her  head  and  ran  away  in  anger,  he  oursued 
her  and  called  her  back.  He  was  happy  and  con- 
tent when  she  came,  and  she  could  talk  of  many 
things,  but  when  she  was  absent  he  thought  more 
of  the  food  that  he  ate. 

Brigitte  came  seldom  to  Seven-Isles,  and  then 
she  occupied  herself  mostly  with  Jacob  and  Si- 
men,  with  Runow  she  was  very  shy.  She  would 
sit  with  quiet  dignity  upon  the  bench  and  listen 
to  van  Devil's  heavy  speech;  but  her  eyes  and 
ears  were  for  Runow  only. 


The  plague  broke  out  over  the  land.  Rumour 
brought  it  near  and  terror  increased  it.  Prayers 
were  offered  and  sung  in  Danish  and  in  Latin ; 
but  the  swine  fell  dead  in  the  lanes  and  the  stench 
of  carrion  hung  about  the  springs  and  crept  into 
every  house.  Infection  overtook  the  busy  folk. 

Those  who,  with  bared  heads,  gazed  defiantly 
up  at  the  sun  and  kept  the  yearly  holidays  as 
usual,  and  those  who  covered  themselves  and 
crept  into  dark  corners,  were  alike  seized  by  the 
pestilence. 

The  mice  in  the  wainscoting  cried  pitifully 
when  their  bellies  festered;  but  the  rats  in  the 
beams  of  the  walls  and  in  the  bulwarks  of  the 
fjord  were  as  if  possessed,  rushed  into  the  open 
churches,  and  attacked  pious  folk  with  their 
teeth. 

The  swollen  corpses  of  these  dead  rats  lay  over 
the  church-floors;  under  the  flags  were  the  blue 
bodies  of  the  people.  For  all  decency  had  long 

34 


THE  GOVERNOR  35 

since  come  to  an  end,  and  there  was  no  time  to 
lay  them  in  nailed  coffins  in  accordance  with 
Christian  precepts. 

Shrill  with  horror  rang  the  voices  of  the  con- 
gregations, and  the  priests  preached  for  the  dead 
and  the  living  until  the  Host  fell  from  their 
hands  and  their  faces  stiffened. 

The  foul  stench  of  funeral-pyres  where 
witches  burned  crept  about  the  sweating  fore- 
heads of  the  judges.  The  women  were  con- 
demned on  any  evil  evidence;  but  only  their 
bodies  became  ashes — their  souls,  in  league  with 
the  devil,  flew  through  the  air  and  spread  further 
disease  amongst  the  people. 

Clear  water  was  troubled  with  the  corpses  of 
dead  fish.  Mists,  smelling  of  sulphur,  hung  over 
marl-pits  and  marshes.  No  drop  of  rain  moist- 
ened the  earth  through  the  long  months  of  sum- 
mer despite  the  appeal  of  longing  hearts.  And 
the  crops  rotted  in  the  fields. 

Children  and  greybeards  alike  went  wailing 
away  from  the  houses  in  the  hot,  heavy  air.  The 
wind  slept,  the  scorched  trees  were  motionless. 
But  the  dismal  groans  of  the  people,  rotting  away 


36  THE  GOVERNOR 

alive — these  groans  rang  throughout  the  whole 
land.  The  breath  of  the  plague  drove  away  the 
singing-birds  under  the  sky.  Only  the  rats  crept 
over  the  ground  amongst  those  whose  hearts  still 
beat. 

-v  *  *  •  •  -:v  -*-  # 

The  plague  reached  Seven-Isles  also.  But  van 
Devil  was  strong.  He  had  a  pit  dug  and  rilled 
with  slaked  lime;  in  this  there  was  room  for 
many.  When  the  pit  should  be  filled  there  was 
lime  enough  for  the  rest.  As  he  saw  dead  frogs 
in  his  springs  he  had  salt  thrown  into  them  that 
none  might  drink  to  his  undoing.  Water  was 
henceforth  only  to  be  drawn  from  the  stream  that 
ran  into  the  great  cistern  in  the  courtyard. 

With  wise  seventy  he  shot  down  every  dog 
upon  his  property.  He  reckoned  sagely  that 
dogs,  which  sniff  at  everything,  would  carry  the 
plague  with  them. 

But  when  he  had  done  everything  in  his  power 
he  thought  only  of  Runow,  and  quickly  came  to 
the  determination  to  send  his  son  away,  and 
Simen  with  him.  Simen  was,  at  heart,  a  prudent 
man,  and  foreign  customs  would  perhaps  teach 


THE  GOVERNOR  37 

Rimow  to  be  less  tender  and  not  to  fear  the  sight 
of  blood. 

No  one  thought  of  Jacob.  But  every  evening 
in  his  terror  and  the  simplicity  of  his  heart  he 
sent  up  a  prayer  to  the  distant  God  of  the  Trin- 
ity, and  another  of  equal  length  to  the  lord  Satan, 
that  Runow  might  be  guarded  from  pestilence 
and  infection.  And  now  he  begged  to  be  sent 
away  with  him.  The  part  of  a  servant  would 
suit  him  well  if  only  he  might  not  be  forgotten. 

"Thou  canst  probably  follow  our  track;  we 
ride  southward  on  horseback.  If  thou  hast  good 
legs  thou  wilt  overtake  us,  else  must  thou  remain 
an  obedient  son  at  Seven-Isles." 

It  was  said  in  jest,  but  afterwards  Runow  re- 
gretted that  he  had  not  dared  to  go  against  his 
father's  will  and  take  Jacob  with  him.  Soon, 
however,  he  consoled  himself.  He  was  not  sorry 
that  Jacob  was  to  remain  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Liinegaard.  He  himself  had  not  taken  leave 
of  Brigitte — van  Devil  had  sent  him  away  in 
haste. 

So  the  two  rode  southward  towards  the  fron- 
tier of  the  kingdom.  They  drew  halt  in  no  tav- 


38  THE  GOVERNOR 

ern,  for  the  plague  might  be  dwelling  anywhere. 
As  the  sun  set  they  bound  their  horses  to  an  oak- 
tree  and  lay  down  in  the  dry  grass  beside  the 
road. 

But  when  morning  came  Jacob  was  sleeping  at 
their  side  with  wide-open,  bloodshot  eyes.  His 
chest  heaved,  his  feet  bled.  Runow  awoke  and 
saw  him,  and  then  Jacob  began  to  cry  out  in  his 
sleep.  On  his  finger  was  a  narrow  gold  ring  with 
a  green  stone.  Hilleborg  had  sent  it  to  Runow 
as  a  parting  gift.  Jacob  did  not  hesitate  to  hand 
it  over.  But  he  kept  Brigitte's  greeting  for 
himself. 

They  continued  on  their  way  through  Holstein 
in  short,  painful  day-journeys.  Their  plan  was 
to  reach  the  University  and  there  to  acquire  the 
knowledge  which  they  most  desired.  Runow 
wished  to  study  jurisprudence.  It  was  not  his 
intention  to  seek  a  position,  but  when  Seven-Isles 
should  be  his  he  meant  to  administer  justice  to 
every  one.  He  was  unhappy  when  any  one  suf- 
fered injustice  and  he  longed  to  help  them.  But 
the  very  smell  of  a  criminal  turned  him  sick. 

In  Utrecht  there  lived  a  near  relative  of  Ru- 


THE  GOVERNOR  39 

now's,  Groener  Pleyelt  by  name,  and  the  Univer- 
sity there  was  highly  praised.  In  this  city, 
therefore,  they  established  themselves. 

Jacob  chose  the  study  of  medicine,  and  Simen 
remained  with  them  and  watched  over  them  as 
well  as  he  was  able. 


And  the  time  passed. 

It  was  a  beautiful  Sunday,  six  years  later.  Idle 
ships  lay  in  the  harbour.  The  beggars  stumbled 
about  with  soup-pail  and  staff.  High  over  the 
roofs  of  the  houses  the  bells  of  the  town  chimed 
merrily.  In  the  churches  there  was  a  musty 
smell  like  that  of  a  poultry-yard — it  came  from 
the  sable-trimmed  robes  of  the  ladies. 

They  prayed  for  prosperity  at  sea,  for  pros- 
perity in  the  city,  and  that  ill-minded  enemies 
might  be  smitten  with  disease. 

In  the  market-place  by  the  cathedral  strutted 
a  single  crowing  cock,  nothing  else  was  in  sight. 

But  in  the  deep,  cool  cellars  sat  the  thick-bel- 
lied, red-cheeked  burghers  whose  fathers  had 
eaten  rats  under  Alba.  They  now  kept  holiday 
with  dice-throwing  and  refreshed  themselves 
with  Almighty  God's  pure  grape-juice.  If  it 
chanced  that  curses  and  abuse  were  exchanged, 

and  if  there  should  be  matter  for  fighting  or  even 

40 


THE  GOVERNOR  41 

for  death-blows,  it  was  but  the  ill  results  of 
idleness. 

Hidden  between  houses  and  yards,  sheltered 
from  every  cold  wind,  lay  the  garden  of  Groener 
Pleyelt,  and  in  the  garden  walked  his  young  only 
daughter,  Cornelia.  The  weight  of  her  golden 
hair  bent  back  her  head;  she  did  not  cease  to 
hum  and  to  imitate  the  notes  of  the  happy  birds 
in  the  sunshine.  In  the  brown  tan  of  the  path 
were  the  countless  tracks  of  her  swift  footprints. 

One  summer  morning  Cornelia  had  been  car- 
ried out  to  Groener,  who  had  just  watched  half 
the  night  over  a  sick  tulip.  On  that  same  morn- 
ing of  her  birth  her  mother  had  died.  Since 
then  she  had  spent  all  the  days  of  summer  in  the 
garden.  But  in  winter,  when  the  bulbs  were  laid 
away  in  deep  stone  jars,  she  watched  over  them 
in  the  house,  counted  and  arranged  them,  and 
allowed  no  one  else  to  touch  her  father's  treas- 
ures. Early  in  the  spring,  when  wood-mould 
and  dung  were  spread  over  the  garden  and  fresh 
tan  for  the  paths  brought  in  loads  from  the  tan- 
nery, Cornelia  herself  bored  holes  for  the  bulbs; 
she  knew  exactly  each  one's  place,  thrust  the  yel- 


42  THE  GOVERNOR 

low  ivory  sticks  into  the  earth,  and  polished  the 
little  silver  shields  on  which  stood  the  name  of 
each  bulb. 

Just  now  the  flowers  shone  in  rich-coloured 
bloom.  There  were  thick-petalled  ones,  looking 
as  if  they  were  carved  out  of  leather,  with  swollen 
veins  and  wrinkled  toad-skins,  transparent  ones 
like  dragon-flies'  wings  with  clear  pores,  or  soft 
ones  ringed  like  ostrich  feathers  or  shining  with 
glaze  like  Delft  ware,  speckled  like  birds'  eggs— 
of  all  colours  known  on  earth. 

Cornelia  picked  worms  and  black-beetles  from 
the  flowers.  She  stood  with  dilated  nostrils 
greedily  breathing  in  their  perfume.  Butterflies 
fluttered  around  her,  drunk  with  love — they 
settled  themselves  on  her  shining  hair  to  rock 
themselves  and  rest 

In  the  middle  of  the  path  lay  a  little  gold- 
brocaded  cap  that  she  had  dropped  as  she  chased 
her  tame  ermine.  She  let  it  lie  where  it  had 
fallen,  sure  that  Runow  would  rise  from  his 
bench  and  bring  it  to  her.  But  Runow  remained 
seated,  obstinate  and  silent.  The  flowers  irri- 


THE  GOVERNOR  43 

tated  his  nose  and  his  eyes  like  shrill  trumpet- 
blasts. 

He  looked  up  at  the  sky  that  was  free  from 
wind  and  clouds;  there  was  only  quivering  air, 
clear  and  quivering  as  silk.  Like  the  silken  ker- 
chief that  he  had  lately  tied  about  Barbara's 
neck. 

Barbara — 

Heniche — 

And  Cornelia — 

He  turned  Hilleborg's  ring  on  his  finger.  The 
little  green  stone  was  gone.  Perhaps  Barbara 
had  loosened  it  in  envy,  or  perhaps  it  had  fallen 
out.  As  he  turned  the  ring  all  his  thoughts  wan- 
dered sadly  to  Brigitte,  who  had  been  silent  for 
six  summers.  True,  news  reached  him  through 
the  letters  that  van  Devil  wrote.  They  told  him 
that  the  sisters  were  travelling  about  the  country 
to  visit  their  distinguished  relatives  and  acquire 
the  education  that  they  sadly  lacked.  But  van 
Devil  wrote  seldom  and  the  sisters  never. 

Cornelia  went  up  to  him;  "I  found  this  stone 
in  my  chamber.  Thou  must  have  lost  it  out  of 
thy  ring  last  night  I" 


44  THE  GOVERNOR 

She  threw  her  arms  about  his  neck;  "Runow, 
all  the  flowers  that  I  touch  burn  so,  why  is  that?" 

All  the  bells  became  silent  just  then  and  they 
knew  that  it  was  noon.  But  Groener  was  already 
in  the  garden,  and  he  had  seen  Runow  and  Cor- 
nelia stand  embracing  one  another.  He  went  to- 
wards them,  deep  concern  visible  in  his  face. 

"Runow,  hast  thou  considered  that  the  close 
tie  of  kinship  knits  you  two  together?  If  harm 
has  come  to  my  child  neither  thou  nor  any  one 
else  can  make  good  the  mischief." 

Runow  cast  down  his  eyes,  but  the  girl  cried 
into  her  father's  face,  "In  spite  of  kinship,  in 
spite  of  the  laws  of  the  church,  I  love  Runow 
and  he  me!" 

But  Groener  took  Cornelia  by  the  hand  and 
led  her  out  of  the  garden. 

When  the  angelus  rang  and  the  city  slept 
Groener's  coach  went  rattling  out  of  it,  and  he 
himself  sat  at  home  in  his  parlour  and  let  his 
fingers  glide  through  the  shorn  hair  of  his  child. 

Runow  lay  over  the  table  with  his  hands  to 
his  ears.  Cornelia  had  cried  and  wept  the  whole 
afternoon — now  all  was  quiet  again. 


THE  GOVERNOR  45 

Simen  sat  beside  him  and  talked  to  him  sooth- 
ingly, telling  him  that  it  was  destiny  and  not  ill- 
intention.  But  Runow  shook  his  head.  Simen 
knew  nothing  of  the  falsehood  and  the  wild  lust 
that  dwelled  within  him.  Not  for  one  instant 
had  he  forgotten  the  kinship  that  stood  between 
them. 

And  now — and  now  I 

After  the  coach  had  returned  once  more  to  the 
city  there  was  a  knock  on  Groener's  door. 

"Believe  me,  blind  and  deaf  I  gave  my  body 
to  love  and  my  soul  to  deception.  On  my  life 
and  honour  if  I  meant  well  to  any  being  it  was 
to  Cornelia." 

Groener  interrupted  him. 

"Thanks,  son,  for  thy  words  and  their  truth. 
I  will  believe  that  thou  hadst  meant  to  deal  hon- 
ourably by  her.  But  as  a  thousand  wax  candles 
of  an  arm's  thickness  cannot  suffice  to  banish 
darkness  from  the  heavens,  an  evil  deed  is  not 
undone  by  words.  Thou  knewest  that  so  near 
kinsmen  could  not  stand  together  before  the  al- 
tar. And  now — should  she  remain  at  home  she 
must  blush  before  the  flowers  that  she  played 


46  THE  GOVERNOR 

with  as  a  sister.  It  will  be  silent  here  and  empty 
— but  time,  which  gives  life,  may  grant  the  grace 
of  a  speedy  death.  I  have  no  other  hope.  The 
doors  have  closed  behind  Cornelia  and  she  is  as 
dead,  but  no  stranger  must  learn  of  her  disgrace. 
And  have  a  care,  Runow!  If  thou  in  time  shalt 
deal  out  justice  and  punish  injustice  thou  must 
never  forget  what  thou  thyself  hast  done  without 
thought  of  ill." 

Runow  would  have  declared  honourably  that 
one  woman  only,  Brigitte,  had  his  love.  But 
cowardice  tied  his  tongue. 

Soon  after  he  and  Simen  set  out  for  Heidel- 
berg where  he  was  to  complete  his  studies,  and 
Jacob  remained  in  Utrecht  to  perfect  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  medical  science. 


When  Runow  reached  Seven-Isles  once  more 
Brigitte  and  Hilleborg  had  long  since  returned 
home.  Van  Devil  was  never  idle,  and  during 
the  years  that  had  flown  he  had  cultivated  his 
friendship  with  Preben  and  his  daughters.  Aye, 
the  bracelet  that  he  had  stripped  from  Runow's 
dead  mother  was  worn  by  Hilleborg,  and  Bri- 
gitte had  received  a  pearl  ornament  for  her  hair. 
But,  unhappily,  van  Devil  could  not  make  up  his 
mind  which  of  the  two  sisters  he  must  win.  For 
should  Runow  choose  Hilleborg  only  the  treas- 
ures would  matter  to  her  and  sweet  words  were 
thrown  away,  but  if  he  should  take  her  sister  it 
was  these  latter  that  would  be  of  most  avail. 

Long  before  Runow  guessed  it,  van  Devil 
had  discovered  that  the  goal  of  the  two  sisters 
was  the  same,  and  he  resolved  to  wait  until  Ru- 
now should  go  wooing.  It  would  certainly  be 
better  to  know  that  the  property  need  not  be  di- 
vided, but  two  would  not  pass  for  one  mouth,  and 

47 


48  THE  GOVERNOR 

were  there  justice  in  the  world  he  would  long 

survive  his  son,  who  was  weak  and  thin. 

Hilleborg  followed  Runow  wherever  he  went 
and  offered  him  her  mouth  and  her  eyes,  but 
Brigitte  was  mostly  with  Jacob. 

Jacob  wooed  her  and  she  laughed  at  him. 

"Thou  shouldst  know  that  I  have  other 
thoughts — but  seek  thy  fortune  with  Hilleborg, 
she  has  as  many  chambers  to  her  heart  as  a  cow 
has  stomachs — and  still  more.  Lately  she  was 
on  the  point  of  running  out  of  the  country  with 
that  fool  of  a  Volmer  Elide,  though  she  can  carry 
him  on  her  arm.  Now  it  seems  that  she  would 
be  glad  to  run  away  with  Runow — if  he  be  not 
too  heavy  for  her!" 

Before  the  end  of  the  year  a  marriage  was  ar- 
ranged between  Brigitte  and  Runow. 

******** 

The  pipes  sounded,  the  rafters  of  the  castle 
shone,  the  bridal-bed  was  prepared  with  silken 
cushions  woven  with  flowers,  and  the  guests, 
strangers  and  acquaintances,  sat  at  the  banquet- 
table  and  the  bridal-board. 

Hilleborg  rose  from  her  cushions,  went  with 


THE  GOVERNOR  49 

raised  goblet  to  the  bridegroom,  and  said,  "Ru- 
now,  my  brother-in-law,  we  two  must  drink  to 
the  years  that  are  to  come  and  to  those  which  are 
gone!" 

He  emptied  the  goblet  till  the  sapphire  at  the 
bottom  gleamed  up  at  him  like  the  eye  of  a  ser- 
pent, and  his  eyes  were  soon  glazed  with  intoxi- 
cation, for  he  could  not  carry  wine. 

Many  of  the  squires  jumped  upon  the  table- 
cloth and  made  speeches  without  sense  or  mean- 
ing, and  maidens  in  silver  brocade  and  silk  sank 
their  heads  in  the  dishes  so  that  their  hair  swam 
in  them.  They  were  drunk. 

The  music  woke  them  again.  Without  cere- 
mony or  courtly  etiquette  each  man  seized  a  maid 
and  swung  her  in  a  light-footed  dance,  goblet  in 
hand. 

Again  Hilleborg  went  up  to  Runow  and  bade 
him  dance  with  her  the  sister-dance,  which  ends 
with  the  kiss  of  kinship.  Brigitte  stood  sur- 
rounded by  torch-bearers,  so  dazzled  by  the  red 
glow  that  she  could  distinguish  nothing  outside 
the  circle.  And  as  Hilleborg  seized  the  tall  gob- 
let, filled  it  to  the  brim  and  drank  to  him,  Runow 


50  THE  GOVERNOR 

emptied  it  to  the  dregs.  But  then  his  speech  be- 
came confused.  The  sapphire  sprang  out  of  the 
goblet  and  changed  into  the  sparkling  eyes  of 
Hilleborg. 

"Runow,  my  brother-in-law  and  now  also  my 
brother — once  I  sent  thee  a  ring.  Never  hast 
thou  thanked  me  for  it!" 

He  stammered  and  tried  to  speak.  It  seemed 
to  him  that  he  could  hear  the  voice  of  Groener's 
daughter  saying,  "This  stone,  Runow,  I  found  in 
my  chamber!" 

Hilleborg  drew  him  out  into  the  rose-garden. 
Glow-worms  shone  in  the  dew-wet  grass.  Ru- 
now thought  that  they  were  stars  and  tried  to  pick 
them  up  to  replace  them  in  the  sky — but  they 
were  extinguished  in  his  hand. 

"Runow,  dost  thou  remember  the  day  when 
thou  combed  my  hair  and  kissed  its  perfume?" 

"Like  moss  it  smelled — like  moss!" 

"Sit  down  beside  me,  brother-in-law." 

He  seated  himself  on  the  stone  bench,  Hille- 
borg bent  over  him,  loosened  her  hair  and  let  it 
fall  over  his  face. 

"Canst  breathe  its  perfume  now?" 


THE  GOVERNOR  51 

She  covered  his  mouth  with  her  lips — no 
words  were  exchanged.  But  the  time  passed  and 
they  remained  away  so  long  that  Brigitte  looked 
uneasily  about  the  hall. 

They  entered  by  the  same  door.  Hilleborg 
stepped  lightly  and  composedly  over  to  Brigitte, 
kissed  her  ear  and  whispered  to  her  what  had 
happened. 

The  bride's  cry  stayed  the  drunken  guests.  Si- 
lence fell  along  the  walls.  The  musicians  ceased 
playing  and  the  dancers  stopped.  But  Runow 
went  slowly  through  the  hall  to  where  Hilleborg 
stood,  seized  her  wrists,  forced  her  to  her  knees, 
and  hurled  her  on  the  floor  that  was  soiled  with 
many  feet.  Then  he  went  up  to  Brigitte,  who 
still  held  her  hand  pressed  to  her  heart.  He  tried 
to  meet  her  eyes,  but  could  not  raise  his  own  to 
her. 

All  was  silent,  still  as  death,  as  step  by  step, 
Runow  made  his  way  out  of  the  hall. 

Thus  he  was  divided  from  Brigitte. 


There  was  one  who  was  not  at  the  wedding- 
feast  although  bidden  and  entreated. 

The  yellow  jaundice  had  entered  into  van 
Devil's  blood  and  he  must  needs  keep  his  bed. 
He  lay  in  a  heavy  sweat  and  raged  in  fever,  curs- 
ing Satan  in  his  heaven  and  the  angels  in  the  fiery 
ovens  of  hell.  The  fiercer  grew  his  anger  the 
wilder  grew  his  talk,  the  fever  seemed  to  have 
burned  all  understanding  out  of  his  brain. 

Across  the  bed,  a  heavy  load  on  his  belly,  stood 
the  casket  of  commercial  letters  and  documents. 
On  the  lid  of  the  casket  he  had  drawn  up  the  one 
letter  after  the  other  addressed  to  his  Royal 
Highness;  but  these  seven-times  sealed  letters, 
despite  his  strictest  commands,  were  not  des- 
patched, but  lay  heaped  up  in  the  ante-chamber. 

One  after  another  the  servants  of  Seven-Isles 
crept  upstairs  and  listened  at  the  door  as  it  grew 
dark,  then  kneeled  down  simply  and  implored 

the  gracious  and  well-born  lord  Satan  to  take 

52 


THE  GOVERNOR  53 

van  Devil's  soul  to  himself  as  quickly  as  possible. 
The  sick  man  knew  nothing  of  this,  and  he  called 
the  folk  to  his  bedside — in  a  wide  circle  around 
his  treasure-chest — and  bade  them  fold  their 
hands  and  pray  for  the  recovery  of  his  body. 
The  yellow  jaundice  was  in  his  blood  and  neither 
the  wise  Iver  nor  Doctor  Jacob  knew  what  to  do 
for  him.  The  cause  was  no  physical  one,  neither 
accident  nor  over-eating  had  sent  the  jaundice 
to  his  veins,  but  the  exasperation  of  his  heart. 

When  Runow  received  Brigitte's  answer,  van 
Devil  had  reckoned  that  it  would  be  wisest  to 
wait  with  his  wooing  until  he  had  obtained  the 
permission  of  the  church  to  marry  Hilleborg — 
on  which  account  he  quickly  sought  the  pastor. 

But  the  lazy,  fat-paunched  pastor,  who  ate 
only  the  yolks  of  his  eggs  and  himself  lay  in  the 
nuptial  bed  with  Jytte  Malene,  Lindenow's 
former  paramour,  had  the  mad  impudence  to 
forbid  the  lord  of  Seven-Isles  to  follow  his  will 
—because  he  desired  to  wed  with  the  sister  of 
his  son's  bride. 

As  van  Devil  was  not  accustomed  to  contra- 
diction he  pressed  the  pastor's  hand  so  heartily 


54  THE  GOVERNOR 

in  farewell  that  the  flesh  of  two  finger-joints  was 

crushed.    He  took  further  revenge  on  the  poor 

priest  by  forbidding  peasants  and  men-servants, 

with  their  wives  and  children,  to  enter  the  sacred 

*  house  of  God  on  Sundays  and  feast-days.    Those 

•  who  went  secretly  to  mass  were  flogged,  and  did 

not  venture  to  disobey  him  a  second  time. 

Then  he  tried  by  fair  means  to  reach  his  goal, 
addressing  himself  to  the  bishop  himself  with 
gentle,  pious  words  which  he  had  rummaged  out 
of  old  papers.  But  the  bishop,  who  had  already 
received  the  pastor's  complaint,  replied,  with  se- 
vere exhortations,  that  a  man  with  such  evil  deeds 
upon  his  conscience  could  not — as  in  the  evil  days 
of  Catholicism — buy  the  right  to  sin. 

Now  it  only  remained  to  appeal  to  the  king, 
but  from  that  side  there  was  nothing  to  hope  for. 
Whenever  the  lord  of  Seven-Isles  had  been 
called  upon  to  serve  king  and  country  with  silver, 
men,  or  corn,  he  had  pretended  to  be  sick,  and 
had  answered  that  a  dying  man  could  have  no 
thought  but  for  the  welfare  of  his  soul. 

So  he  wasted  many  letters,  filled  to  the  brim 
with  solemn  promises,  and  imploring  the  king's 


THE  GOVERNOR  55 

approval.  Runow  looked  upon  it  as  the  crochet 
of  an  old  man,  and  jested  over  it  with  Brigitte 
and  Hilleborg,  at  the  same  time  taking  care  that 
the  letters  did  not  reach  their  destination.  Van 
Devil  seemed  to  grow  worse  every  day,  and  on 
the  night  of  Runow's  wedding  he  lay  in  sweat 
and  fear. 

The  day  before  a  whole  oven-full  of  bricks 
had  been  spoilt.  In  fierce  anger  against  the  oven- 
heaters,  who,  through  gossip  and  idleness,  must 
have  ruined  his  work,  van  Devil  had  had  them 
whipped  until  the  blood  ran  down  their  backs — 
like  tears  from  the  eyes  of  children. 

As  they  were  afterwards  thrown  into  the  dark 
cellar  to  await  further  punishment,  one  of  them 
cried,  with  a  voice  that  rang  through  van  Devil's 
marrow  and  bones: 

"The  blood  will  not  dry  on  our  backs  until 
Van  Devil  burns  in  the  fires  of  hell!" 

Although  no  one  need  pay  any  heed  to  the 
words  of  so  miserable  a  wretch,  especially  when 
uttered  in  anger,  still,  the  sick  man  was  attacked 


56  THE  GOVERNOR 

by  such  violent  trembling  that,  contrary  to  his 
custom,  he  allowed  his  light  to  burn  all  night. 
Sweating  heavily,  he  drew  his  chests  nearer  to 
him  onto  the  bed  until  there  was  scarcely  room 
in  it  for  himself. 

Then  Jacob  came  and  told,  in  his  drunkenness, 
what  he  himself  had  seen  and  what  Hilleborg 
had  confessed. 

The  clear  colour  mounted  into  van  Devil's 
cheeks,  and  Jacob  received  hearty  thanks  for  his 
errand,  for  now  nothing  would  come  of  the  mar- 
riage. Runow  had  sent  word  by  Jacob  that  he 
would  be  seen  no  more  at  Seven-Isles;  he  was 
going  his  way  and  would  never  return.  He 
meant  to  seek  his  fortune  where  destiny  should 
cast  him. 

Bold  and  gay,  Hilleborg  stamped  up  the  stairs, 
and  van  Devil  asked  her  if  she  would  be  lady  of 
Seven-Isles  so  soon  as  permission  could  be 
obtained. 

On  the  same  night  a  letter  was  despatched  to 
the  court  in  which  it  was  stated  that,  as  there  had 
been  no  legal  union  between  Runow's  mother, 
the  gipsy,  and  Pleyelt  Poss  van  Ruyter,  and  as  he 


THE  GOVERNOR  57 

had  no  security  as  to  the  truth  of  her  word;  also, 
as  he  had  never  intended  to  acknowledge  Runow 
as  his  heir,  he  must  be  released  from  every  tie  of 
kinship.  If  now  the  king  would  grant  his  gra- 
cious permission  to  the  marriage  of  van  Ruyter 
with  Preben  Lindenow's  twin-daughter,  Hille- 
borg,  he  would  promise  that  three-tenths  of  his 
rents  and  his  property  during  seven  years  should 
be  paid  in  to  the  crown;  likewise  he  would  pro- 
vide roof-tiles  and  wall-bricks  for  three  royal  es- 
tates, as  well  as  free  transport  for  them  to  their 
place  of  destination.  In  addition  he  would  grant 
the  crown  permission  to  fell  in  the  woods  of 
Seven-Isles  as  many  masts  as  there  are  days  in 
leap-year. 

The  reply  came  back  under  the  royal  seal  that, 
seeing  that  Runow,  on  the  evidence  of  the 
church-register  and  of  the  Parliament,  had  been 
acknowledged  lawful  heir,  the  kinship  could  not 
be  set  aside  and  the  marriage  must  not  be  allowed 
to  take  place.  But  in  accordance  with  the  de- 
mand of  the  gracious  Lindenow,  Brigitte's  mar- 
riage was  to  be  declared  null  and  void,  and  Hil- 


58  THE  GOVERNOR 

leborg  could  take  to  husband  whomsoever  her 
conscience  approved. 

In  the  meantime,  Hilleborg  lived  at  Seven- 
Isles.  Although  Preben  was  always  drunk,  he 
could  not  bear  the  sight  of  her,  for  Brigitte  was 
the  daughter  of  his  heart. 

In  haste  and  privacy  the  marriage  was  cele- 
brated, therefore,  at  Seven-Isles. 


"A  hard  tooth  and  a  hollow  nut,  a  young  wife 
and  an  old  husband,  cannot  pass  together,"  says 
an  old  proverb,  and  one  that  seldom  lies. 

Hilleborg  was  accustomed  to  follow  her  own 
free  will ;  van  Devil  did  not  at  once  treat  her  to 
wrath  and  hard  words,  but  waited  silently.  If 
her  character  resembled  the  high-springing  pine, 
his  was  like  the  gnarled  oak,  and  it  is  this  which 
can  best  meet  the  storm. 

His  greed  increased  with  the  years.  Never 
could  he  win  back  the  round,  white  silver-dollars 
that  Runow  had  cost  him.  He  watched  with 
anxiety  every  foot  of  his  acres  and  every  hillock 
of  peat  at  Preben's,  and  was  so  stingy  with  the 
fare  at  Seven-Isles  that  every  one  endeavoured 
to  snatch  at  something  behind  his  back  that  they 
might  not  be  tormented  with  hunger. 

Only  Hilleborg  ate  what  she  pleased,  like  the 
veriest  glutton.  Were  it  salted  meat  or  roasted 
game,  or  beer-soup  with  sour  herrings,  she  used 

59 


60  THE  GOVERNOR 

both  spoon  and  fingers  so  busily  that  her  husband 
in  his  irritation  could  swallow  no  bite,  and  was 
glad  if  later,  in  the  fields,  he  could  find  a  shriv- 
elled turnip  wherewith  to  fill  his  belly. 

Meanwhile,  at  Preben's  one  debauch  followed 
the  other.  Only  on  Sundays  was  he  sober,  and 
then  he  sought  God's  house  and  Jytte  Malene, 
who  ruled  him  with  the  utmost  piety. 

Nine  months  after  Hilleborg's  marriage  the 
news  reached  Seven-Isles  that  Master  Preben 
had  departed  this  transient  life. 

Van  Devil  hastened  to  wash  his  face  with  clean 
water,  comb  his  hair  thrice  with  his  fingers,  put 
on  his  best  clothes  and  ride  to  Liinegaard,  in- 
stantly to  interpose  his  will  in  the  matter  of  the 
division  of  the  property.  But  he  was  not  ad- 
mitted to  Brigitte's  presence,  and  the  pastor  stood 
beside  Preben's  death-bed.  Jytte  Malene  and 
other  willing  witnesses  informed  him  that  Hille- 
borg  was  cut  off  from  any  inheritance.  A  writ- 
ten testament,  duly  witnessed  and  sealed,  was  in 
their  possession. 

Van  Devil's  chest  gurgled,  and  he  returned 
homewards,  forgetting  his  horse.  Hilleborg  ap- 


THE  GOVERNOR  61 

peared  to  be  intensely  satisfied,  and  only  des- 
patched a  groom  to  fetch  some  beehives,  as  the 
bees  at  Seven-Isles  gave  little  honey  and  very 
moderate  mead. 

Master  Preben  was  buried  under  the  same  blue 
stone  in  the  church  beneath  which  Mistress 
Merthe  rested.  And  on  the  stone  was  written: 

"Beneath  these  stones 
Rest  his  bones, 
By  his  wife  so  true 
Who  sleeps  here  too. 
Preben  Lindenow  of  Liinegaard,  he 
By  God's  grace  resurrected  be." 

Thereupon  Brigitte  left  the  country  on  a  long 
journey,  at  first  to  encounter  many  difficulties 
as  a  single  woman  whose  aim  and  object  were 
understood  of  few,  but  later  with  much  pleasure 
as  she  saw  strange  lands  and  strange  customs. 
Simen,  who  was  without  house  or  home,  re- 
mained at  Liinegaard  by  her  express  desire. 

But  when  a  year  had  gone  by  and  she  began 
to  long  for  the  sound  of  her  mother-tongue,  she 


62  THE  GOVERNOR 

sent  for  Simen,  and  they  travelled  for  a  long 
while  together.  And  Simen,  who  now  and  again 
had  news  of  Runow,  passed  on  every  word  to 
Brigitte  lest  her  anger  should  be  aroused.  Thus 
she  learned  amongst  other  things  that  he  had  set 
out  over  Fladstrand  for  the  flat  lands  of  Laeso, 
which  he  was  to  govern. 

Van  Devil  knew  no  rest  either  day  or  night. 

Once  he  struck  the  spoon  out  of  Hilleborg's 
hand  when  she  had  thrust  it  too  deep  into  the 
dish ;  another  time  he  shot  a  cat,  had  it  salted  and 
set  before  her,  but  Hilleborg  must  have  heard  of 
it,  for  she  knocked  the  dish  onto  the  floor  and 
spat  into  it. 

Not  a  farthing  would  he  pay  even  of  what  he 
owed,  and  did  any  one  attempt  to  use  rough 
words  to  him  he  lost  all  his  self-control  and  his 
eyes  grew  red  with  rage. 

Amongst  his  men  was  an  old,  worn-out  fellow, 
Soren  Pop  by  name,  who  was  good  for  nothing 
more  than  to  be  laid  under  the  ground.  In  the 
winter  he  fed  the  swine  with  husks,  and  until 
now  he  had  received  in  the  kitchen  the  where- 
withal to  keep  life  in  him,  little  though  it  was. 


THE  GOVERNOR  63 

But  since  van  Devil  had  taken  to  prying  about 
day  and  night  and  watching  every  pot  and  crock, 
no  one  could  give  him  anything  to  eat,  and  he 
fell  ill  of  hunger. 

In  his  need  he  ate  refuse  out  of  the  pig-trough, 
but  that  did  him  harm.  Ulcers  formed  in  his 
stomach  and  he  raved  in  delirium. 

He  fancied  that  it  might  help  him  if  he  could 
seek  out  Mistress  Hilleborg  and  complain  to  her 
of  his  wrongs,  but  hardly  had  he  reached  the  hall 
when  he  sank  to  the  ground  from  weakness. 

He  was  lying  there  in  his  wretchedness  when 
van  Devil  entered. 

"Save  me  from  pestilence  and  hunger — save 
me  from  pestilence  and  hunger!"  he  wailed, 
gnawing  at  his  fingers. 

But  van  Devil  had  just  perceived  how  Hille- 
borg flavoured  the  beer  for  the  evening  meal  with 
cinnamon,  as  if  it  were  a  common  herb  that  grew 
by  the  wayside,  and  therefore  he  was  in  his  bit- 
terest mood.  First  he  struck  Soren  so  that  he 
rolled  bleeding  on  the  ground,  then  threw  him 
out  of  the  room  so  that  he  again  fell  and  could 
rise  no  more,  and  continued  to  beat  him  and  to 


64  THE  GOVERNOR 

call  him  a  thief — when  at  that  moment  Hille- 
borg  appeared  at  the  door. 

Fear  and  rage  seized  upon  van  Devil ;  he  ran 
for  his  gun  and  shot  Soren  through  the  heart. 
Hilleborg  paled  a  little  at  this  unexpected  sight. 

Van  Devil  commanded  his  men  to  throw 
Soren  Pop  into  the  dung-pit  so  that  the  matter 
might  be  done  with  and  forgotten. 

Soon  afterwards  he  delivered  up  to  justice  four 
peasants  who  had  bribed  a  dairy-maid  to  mix 
poison  in  his  food.  They  were  taken  and  ad- 
mitted having  given  her  a  white  powder,  rat- 
poison,  that  she  might  mix  as  much  as  would 
cover  the  point  of  a  knife  three  times  in  his  food; 
but  not  more  than  three,  for  death  must  not  come 
too  quickly — van  Devil  was  to  lie  and  suffer  for 
some  days  first.  The  court  of  justice  sentenced 
them  to  death;  the  dairy-maid  who  had  con- 
fessed her  ill-intention  escaped  more  easily. 

Hilleborg  was  uneasy  whilst  the  trial  lasted; 
also,  despite  their  having  been  put  to  the  ques- 
tion, the  men  had  not  revealed  whence  they  had 
obtained  the  white  powder. 

One  night  Hilleborg  was  awakened  by  the  grip 


THE  GOVERNOR  65 

of  a  hand  twisted  in  her  hair,  and  as  she  sprang 
up  a  good  deal  of  it  was  torn  out.  Van  Devil 
swore  that  it  had  happened  in  his  sleep,  but 
she  guessed  that  his  object  had  been  to  shatter  her 
head  against  the  iron  of  the  bed-rails,  and  thence- 
forth she  slept  with  open  eyes  and  only  rested  in 
the  daytime. 

Often  the  spouses  lay  and  stared  at  each  other 
until  the  morning  came,  ready  to  fight  for  their 
lives,  each  fearing  the  other. 


Hilleborg  stood  in  the  servants'  hall,  amongst 
the  serving-folk,  serfs  and  peasants.  She  made 
them  swear  by  the  seven  deadly  sins  and  the  sa- 
cred blood  of  God  that  one  and  all  would  be 
silent  should  anything  be  discovered. 

And  she  offered  her  finest  horse  to  him  who 
would  take  van  Devil's  life.  But  their  knees 
shook  and  not  one  of  them  had  the  courage. 

Then  she  promised  a  hundred  silver  dollars, 
a  good  mule,  and  seven  heifers — but  not  one 
would  venture  to  lay  a  hand  upon  him. 

At  last  she  offered  the  highest  thing  that  a 
noble  lady  can  offer.  She  promised  to  marry 
the  man  who  would  despatch  van  Devil.  Nine 
serfs  held  up  their  arms,  and  warm  and  cold 
shudders  ran  down  Mistress  Hilleborg's  back. 
The  nine  agreed  to  do  together  what  she  asked, 
and  afterwards  to  draw  lots. 

Each  of  them  must  vow  with  a  grip  of  the 
hand  to  keep  his  word.  But  Hilleborg  was  not 

66 


THE  GOVERNOR  67 

yet  satisfied.  She  wished  to  see  van  Devi!  in  his 
death-agony  before  the  end  came. 

She  stole  the  key  of  the  tower-chamber,  took 
its  model  in  soft  wax,  and  had  it  copied  by  the 
smith.  Then  she  went  up  to  the  tower,  bound 
a  silken  cord  dipped  in  oil  about  the  tongue  of 
the  bell,  and  caused  a  passage  to  be  bored  for  it 
along  the  wall  and  through  the  floor  to  the  bed 
in  the  sleeping-room. 

On  the  last  evening  that  remained  to  van  Devil 
she  pulled  the  cord  just  as  he  sought  his  bed. 

In  anguished  fear  he  clung  to  her,  but  she  con- 
tinued to  pull  at  the  cord  and  to  pretend,  in  the 
face  of  his  fearful  listening,  that  she  had  heard 
nothing.  Without  certainty  he  would  not  re- 
main in  the  darkness  with  her  whom  he  feared 
most  of  all,  and  he  mounted  to  the  tower- 
chamber. 

No  one  was  there.  The  bell  tolled  over  his 
head,  and  the  cracked  tones  dinned  into  his  ears. 

Then  he  gave  way,  and  his  legs  failed  him. 
Like  a  wounded  animal  he  was  forced  to  creep 
from  step  to  step  down  to  the  room  where  Hille- 
borg  lay. 


68  THE  GOVERNOR 

All  the  doors  stood  open  behind  him,  the  clang 
of  the  bell  followed  him.  He  climbed  into  his 
bed,  flung  his  arms  about  Hilleborg  and  hid  his 
face  in  her  strong  body.  Wilder,  ever  wilder 
clanged  the  bell.  He  bored  his  fingers  into  his 
ears  until  the  blood  sprang  from  them,  but  even 
then  he  heard  the  sound. 

Until  her  arms  were  weary  Hilleborg  con- 
tinued to  pull  at  the  cord.  Van  Devil,  quite  out 
of  his  senses,  whimpered  and  wept.  With  day- 
light he  recovered  his  courage,  but  the  door  of 
the  tower-chamber  was  not  closed.  And  those 
who  saw  him  creep  out  to  the  brick-kiln  did  not 
recognize  him,  so  great  had  been  the  terror  of 
the  night. 

An  hour  later  he  lay  shot  before  the  brick-kiln. 
His  body  was  riddled  with  many  bullets,  like  a 
target.  But  no  one  had  heard  the  shots,  and  not 
one  of  the  serfs'  guns  was  capable  of  being  dis- 
charged. 

Upstairs  in  the  hall  Mistress  Hilleborg  sat 
and  cleaned  her  guns. 

No  one  wondered  that  the  widow  of  so  old  a 
man  wore  no  mourning.  And  as  no  evidence 


THE  GOVERNOR  69 

could  be  obtained  no  one  came  under  suspicion. 
For  the  serfs  stood  fast  and  united  over  their 
deed — and  knew  besides  that  heaven  would  look 
graciously  upon  it.  Therefore  had  the  bell  tolled 
by  night  without  touch  of  human  hand  to  an- 
nounce his  death. 

But  many  were  astonished  that  Mistress  Hille- 
borg  should  be  plighted  before  the  altar  to  the 
peasant,  Tune,  and  should  bear  him  children  who 
took  his  name. 


Runow  sat  alone  in  his  great  official  residence, 
Klitgaard,  over  the  threshold  of  which  no  one 
stepped  unbidden. 

The  fathom-thick  roof  of  sea-weed  hung  over 
window  and  door,  shutting  out  air  and  light,  like 
the  cover  of  a  coffin. 

In  the  silence  he  could  hear  the  boring  of  the 
worms  in  bench  and  post,  and  the  moths  devour- 
ing, thread  by  thread,  the  tapestries  on  the  walls. 
If  he  stood  upright  his  head  touched  the  ceiling 
and  dead  flies  rained  down  from  the  mouldy  cob- 
webs between  the  low  beams.  But  for  the  most 
part  Runow  walked  with  bowed  shoulders. 

When  the  wind  swept  over  the  earth  and 
whirled  against  the  house  the  woodwork  creaked 
and  every  loose  object  jarred.  On  many  a  night 
he  wandered  sleepless  and  depressed  about  the 
strand,  his  gaze  following  unconsciously  the  ir- 
regularities of  the  coast — when  the  day  broke 

he  traced  the  footprints  which  marked  the  same 

70 


THE  GOVERNOR  71 

path.  He  distinguished  them  clearly  in  the 
white  sand;  they  belonged  to  his  own  feet — he 
had  made  the  circuit  of  the  island. 

Then  he  would  go  up  to  the  dunes,  forget  to 
take  the  road  home,  and  remain  sitting  there  for 
hours  at  a  time  whilst  the  sun  rose  out  of  the  sea 
and  the  fish  sprang  up  in  golden  flashes.  He 
would  stare  and  stare  out  before  him  as  though 
he  were  trying  to  decipher  the  runes  that  the 
foam  of  the  waves  wrote  in  the  shallows,  and  to 
read  from  them  his  destiny.  The  sea-birds  re- 
turned home  from  their  fishing.  With  joyful 
cries  they  surrounded  their  prey  and  flew  down 
upon  the  level  shore  that  the  sea  had  spat  out  and 
then  forsaken. 

Like  a  field  hidden  under  the  bloom  of  flowers 
the  sand  was  covered  with  speckled  eggs.  The 
young  ones  cried  for  food  and  the  mothers  di- 
vided fish  and  worms  amongst  them.  But  soon 
a  fierce  strife  would  arise  between  old  and  young. 
Eggs  would  be  crushed,  young  birds  pecked  to 
death.  When  the  strife  was  ended  the  conquer- 
ors remained  on  the  battlefield,  the  conquered 


72  THE  GOVERNOR 

set  forth  over  the  sea  to  seek  new  booty  and  other 
roosting-places. 

One  morning  the  shallows  lay  spread  out  in 
shining  nakedness.  No  egg,  no  young  bird  was 
to  be  seen.  But  the  women  of  the  island,  whose 
faces  were  half  hidden  beneath  their  black  head- 
kerchiefs,  sat  in  a  circle  under  the  dunes,  the  eggs 
amongst  them. 

Runow  chanced  to  be  present  when  the  birds 
returned  and  were  received  by  the  watchers,  who 
ran  up  and  down  the  strand  with  a  mournful 
flapping  of  wings.  They  all  raised  a  hissing  cry 
that  awoke  the  echoes  of  sea  and  land,  and  rushed 
against  the  dunes  as  if  to  tear  both  eggs  and 
broods  from  the  laughing  women.  But  they 
were  frightened  off  with  stones. 

For  two  summers  no  bird  built  its  nest  on  the 
flats. 

When  Runow  returned  to  Klitgaard  towards 
noon  he  was  tired  and  sleepy,  and  would  while 
away  the  remainder  of  the  day  in  sleep  and  in- 
significant work. 

The  island  appeared  to  him  unfruitful  as  the 
vault-stones  of  the  church  floor,  and  sad  as  the 


THE  GOVERNOR  73 

grey  mists  of  autumn.  Surrounded  by  the  toss- 
ing sea,  always  covered  with  scudding  clouds, 
it  lay  as  if  under  a  heavy  curse.  In  vain  the 
waves  wrapped  it  round  with  supple  arms,  trying 
to  draw  it  down  into  the  deep ;  in  vain  the  wind 
stormed  around  it  from  the  four  quarters  of 
heaven,  trying  to  root  it  up  and  shake  it  loose. 
Firm  and  immovable  the  island  defied  their 
efforts. 

Runow  could  not  find  occupations  or  pleasant 
thoughts  to  beguile  the  time.  Hissing  like  ad- 
ders the  latter  crept  about  him;  he  could  not  es- 
cape from  them. 

He  cared  more — little  though  that  might  be — 
for  the  heather  that  ate  its  way  in  great  rusty 
masses  over  the  whole  land,  than  for  the  island- 
folk  whose  quarrels  he  was  there  to  adjudicate. 
Their  speech  was  poor  in  words  as  the  cry  of  the 
sea-gull  in  notes,  and  the  opinion  of  their  hearts 
was  shut  in  with  seven-times-seven  locks  of 
silence. 

In  the  southern  wing  of  Klitgaard  lay  the 
apartments  of  the  bailiff  and  his  clerk.  From 
sheer  weariness  Runow  had  decreed  that  they 


74  THE  GOVERNOR 

should  settle  the  majority  of  difficulties  without 
his  intervention.  If,  however,  it  happened  that 
he  was  summoned  to  the  hall  of  justice  he  judged 
with  righteous  severity,  and  never  mildly. 

The  people  greeted  him  with  bent  backs,  but 
their  greeting  was  suggestive  of  derision.  He 
knew  that  they  hated  him. 

It  had  happened  several  times  that,  in  his  night 
wanderings,  he  saw  how  the  island  folk  them- 
selves extinguished  the  lanterns  which  law  and 
chapter  bade  them  keep  alight  from  evening 
until  morning.  On  these  occasions  he  acted, 
despite  his  distaste  for  his  office.  If,  during  the 
day,  he  chanced  to  see  a  peasant  goading  his  oxen 
too  cruelly  under  the  yoke  he  was  not  afraid  to 
judge  and  fine  him,  contrary  to  all  custom. 

And  the  Laeso  peasants  did  not  forget. 

Every  man  who  wore  a  stinking  sheepskin 
jerkin  felt  himself  to  be  lord  of  the  island  and 
the  sea;  they  held  loyally  by  each  other  in  their 
endeavour  to  maintain  this  right  of  lordship. 
Otherwise  there  was  enmity  between  man  and 
man  for  the  sake  of  ancient  feud  and  new  injus- 


THE  GOVERNOR  75 

tice,  and  nowhere  in  the  kingdom  was  there  so 
much  discord  and  self-defence  as  upon  Laeso. 

But  if  two  peasants,  disputing  in  their  huts,  bit 
off  each  other's  noses,  they  did  not  appeal  to  the 
governor. 

The  laws  which  were  administered  to  the 
island  by  the  Viborg  chapter-house  were  strict. 
But  as  laws  were  but  a  matter  of  words,  and 
words  could  be  carried  away  by  the  winds,  the 
men  of  Laeso  cared  not  a  straw  for  them. 

Of  what  avail  was  it  that  the  chapter-house  im- 
posed a  search  for  those  who  had  defied  the  law 
that  their  lives  might  pay  the  forfeit?  The  peo- 
ple had  as  many  hiding-places  as  the  fox,  and  it 
was  seldom  that  they  were  caught  red-handed. 

Where  shallows  rendered  navigation  difficult 
buoys  were  floated,  but  either  they  broke  away  or 
else  the  chains  bound  them  in  the  wrong  places, 
so  that  the  skipper,  in  all  good  faith,  steered 
straight  for  the  land  and  lost  his  cargo  if  not 
his  life. 

As,  in  addition  to  this,  the  shore-lanterns  were 
extinguished,  there  were  necessarily  shipwrecks 
in  abundance. 


76  THE  GOVERNOR 

During  a  storm  the  people  of  the  island  would 
assemble,  without  speech  or  sound,  in  the  dan- 
gerous parts  of  the  coast,  to  await  the  hour  when 
there  would  be  wreckage  to  fetch  and  corpses  to 
plunder.  Bailiff  and  customs-officer  received 
their  share  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  their 
children,  and  shut  their  eyes  to  what  happened. 

As  the  shifting  sand  gained  ground  so  rapidly 
it  was  forbidden  to  fell  young  trees  and  hack 
open  spaces  in  the  woods.  But  the  salt-pans  de- 
voured much  wood,  and  what  the  day  might  fear 
the  night  smiled  upon. 

The  people  felled  trees  where  and  when  they 
pleased.  In  addition  they  set  up  more  salt-pans 
than  the  law  permitted.  The  island  had  a  super- 
fluity of  sea-weed,  but  in  order  to  deceive  the 
gentlemen  of  the  chapter-house  they  placed  hut- 
roofs  over  the  salt-pans  that  they  might  escape 

observation. 

******** 

Like  a  lean  cow  with  muzzled  jaws  in  long 
grass,  the  poor  ruined  church  had  stood  in  the 
midst  of  the  richest  diocese  of  the  island. 

Had  the  community  given  according  to  its 


THE  GOVERNOR  77 

possessions  the  roof  of  the  church  would  have 
been  covered  with  silver  plates  instead  of  with 
wretched  turf.  But  the  whitewash  fell  from  the 
walls  and  the  damp  ran  down  them,  worms  de- 
voured the  chairs,  and  the  pulpit  was  a  heap  of 
rotting  planks — the  pastor  had  to  stand  upon 
level  ground  where  streams  of  rain  splashed 
down  upon  his  gown. 

For  the  most  part  he  preached  to  the  sexton 
and  his  deaf  wife. 

The  people  were  industrious.  And  if  on  the 
high  holidays  of  the  year  they  thronged  into  the 
church  it  was  not  out  of  piety.  They  struck  one 
another  on  the  mouth  and  quarrelled  so  loudly 
that  the  pastor  had  to  be  silent.  Over  their  heads 
the  crows  cawed  down.  Should  there  be  an  of- 
fertory the  people  crowded  out,  each  one  trying 
to  be  first,  and  the  pastor  remained  alone  with 
empty  hands. 

In  the  belfry  hung  a  bell  so  enormous  that  it 
sounded  far  and  wide  over  the  island,  even  to  the 
huts  of  the  herring-fishers  in  the  north.  No  one 
obeyed  its  voice,  though  the  sexton  pulled  at  the 
rope  with  all  his  strength.  Then  came  the  storm, 


78  THE  GOVERNOR 

like  a  blow  in  the  face  from  the  angry  hand  of 
God.  The  cattle  buried  their  horns  in  the  earth, 
stretched  their  four  legs  in  the  air,  and  bellowed. 
The  people  threw  themselves  on  the  ground  that 
the  wind  might  not  dislocate  their  limbs  and 
blow  their  eyes  out  through  their  ears. 

The  storm  roared  and  the  bell  sounded,  but 
no  human  hand  tugged  at  the  cord,  for  the  sexton 
was  lying  flat  on  his  stomach  and  wailing.  Trees 
were  torn  out  of  the  earth  by  their  roots  and  flew 
through  the  air,  roofs  were  lifted  from  the  huts 
like  box-covers. 

Sharp  and  pricking  like  ice-needles  the  fine 
sand  blew  in  through  chinks  and  spaces,  cover- 
ing the  hearth-fires  and  the  people's  bodies. 
Three  days  and  three  nights  long  the  storm  raged. 
No  one  tasted  food  or  slept.  Then  at  last  the 
weather  grew  calm. 

Cows  lay  far  from  the  herd  with  burst  udders, 
sheep  ran  about  like  mad  dogs  with  red  jaws. 
The  walls  of  the  church  lay  in  broken  heaps, 
the  belfry  tossed  on  a  sand-dune,  the  bell  itself 
sunk  in  the  sand.  The  whole  diocese  was  a  waste 


THE  GOVERN  OK  79 

of  sand,  low  hillocks  showing  where  house  and 
farm  had  stood — but  time  levelled  them  all. 

The  poverty  which  followed  now  was  the  just 
punishment  of  heaven. 

The  island  folk  implored  the  great  lords  of  the 
chapter-house  for  help  to  rebuild  the  church  as 
an  atonement.  The  answer  came  back,  "A 
mighty  finger  has  testified — for  the  sake  of  your 
degeneracy  you  shall  suffer  want." 

The  ruins  were  doomed  in  future  to  lie  un- 
touched by  human  hand.  The  people  had  to  be 
content  with  Burum  chapel,  which  was  low  and 
narrow. 

And  no  one  built  his  hut  near  the  fallen 
church. 

Only  the  birds  of  prey  who  lived  in  strife  with 
the  owls  of  the  wood,  came  by  night  to  shatter 
their  booty  upon  its  stones. 

But  the  sand  blew  round  about  the  bell  and 
against  the  living  metal  with  a  sound  like  the  low 
humming  of  insects  that  never  ceased.  And  a 
little  whirlpool  turned  and  turned  under  it, 
drew  up  the  sand  and  spat  it  out  again — quickly 
and  noiselessly,  as  ants  erect  their  mound. 


8o  THE  GOVERNOR 

In  its  fall  the  tongue  of  the  bell  had  sprung 
from  its  hook  and  buried  itself  deep  in  the 
ground;  it  was  over  this  that  the  whirlpool 
formed  itself.  Under  the  bell  there  was  a  hollow 
large  enough  to  admit  a  man's  body.  Strand- 
grass  protected  the  opening  with  its  roots  so  that 
the  drifting  sand  could  not  close  it  up.  The  red 
foxes  that  crept  inside  to  dig  the  hollow  still 
deeper  were  smoked  out  that  their  stench  might 

not  offend  Almighty  God. 

******** 

In  winter-time  Runow  sat  like  a  shivering 
woman  and  stared  with  red-rimmed  eyes  into 
the  blazing  peat-fire.  However  the  smoke  might 
stifle  him  he  let  his  throat  burn  with  thirst  rather 
than  go  out  to  refresh  himself  in  the  cold  air. 
He  amused  himself  with  a  pair  of  dice  that  he 
had  himself  carved  out  of  ivory.  He  tossed  them 
lightly  in  his  hands  and  thought  of  the  time  when 
Brigitte  and  he  had  thrown  dice  together  on  the 
dyke  of  the  high-road  as  children  love  to  do. 

But  outside  sky  and  sea  met  in  a  grey,  gaping 
waste,  at  one  moment  like  mist,  at  another  like  a 
wall. 


THE  GOVERNOR  81 

Then  a  storm  would  come  out  of  the  west  and 
fling  itself  upon  the  island,  waking  him  from  his 
lethargy  so  that,  as  a  free  man,  he  stamped  upon 
the  ground,  forgot  shame,  resentment  and  re- 
morse, and  marked  out  his  way  as  he  himself 
willed  it.  Then  he  would  feel  himself  to  be  one 
with  the  law.  He  sat  in  the  hall  of  justice  no 
longer  indifferent,  and  it  was  of  little  use  for  the 
peasants  to  swear  solemn  oaths  with  uplifted  fin- 
gers; every  word  was  written  in  the  registers,  the 
matter  gone  into  carefully,  sheaf  by  sheaf  evenly 
divided,  and  justice  had  its  way. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  winter,  just  as  the  ice 
broke,  came  news  from  Seven-Isles,  but  it  was 
not  good  news.  Hilleborg  sent  Runow,  as  his 
one  and  only  inheritance,  the  bed  with  the  iron 
spikes  whence  he  had  so  often  watched  in  terror 
phantom  forms  rise  in  the  night.  It  was  only  to 
revile  him  that  she  sent  it  to  him  now,  shortly 
before  her  second  marriage.  But  it  did  not  hurt 
him. 

After  much  trouble  and  turning  the  bed  was 
taken  through  the  house-door  and  three  rooms  to 
Runow's  sleeping-apartment,  which,  next  to  the 


82  THE  GOVERNOR 

hall  of  justice,  was  the  largest  of  the  Klitgaard 
chambers. 

The  red  curtains  hung  about  the  bed-posts  like 
torn,  faded  flags,  and  as  Runow  had  no  servant 
who  knew  how  to  mend  with  careful  hand,  he 
himself  set  to  work  and  folded  the  stuff  so  that 
the  one  hole  after  the  other  was  hidden. 

In  spite  of  his  repugnance  he  determined  to 
sleep  in  the  bed.  But  when,  on  nights  of  storm, 
the  iron  railings  shook  around  him  like  anchor- 
chains  so  that  he  could  not  rest,  it  seemed  to  him 
that  he  saw  once  more  the  hairy  breast  of  his 
father  rising  and  falling  in  sleep,  and  that  he 
could  smell  again  the  strong  odour  of  the  dogs 
and  their  wet  hides. 

In  deep  shame  he  remembered  that  his  father 
had  not  lain  alone  in  the  bed,  but  with  Hilleborg 
beside  him. 


Odds  and  ends  of  information,  threads  of 
truth  and  cobwebs  of  lies,  reached  Runow  con- 
cerning the  little  girl  who  wandered  wild  and 
lonely  about  the  island,  without  seeking  shelter 
on  any  hearth.  Most  people  believed  that  a 
phantom  ship  had  brought  her  thither,  as  no  flot- 
sam or  jetsam  were  cast  up.  The  rudder-tracks 
of  the  ship  had  long  since  been  obliterated  when 
they  found  her  sleeping  on  the  sea-weed  masses 
of  the  shore.  As  the  all-seeing  Eye  of  God  was 
watching  over  her  they  did  not  kill  her,  but  the 
shore-bailiff  carried  her  home  to  his  hut  with 
but  scant  joy  at  the  prospect  of  feeding  a  strange 
bird  in  a  narrow  nest. 

She  spat  into  the  food  that  was  set  before  her, 
and  screamed  so  naughtily  and  ran  so  bewilder- 
edly  from  wall  to  wall,  like  a  falcon  in  a  cage, 
that  they  soon  let  her  wander  out  into  the  open 
air  as  she  chose.  She  ran  straight  towards  the 

sea,  and  her  wailing  did  not  cease  night  or  day. 

83 


84  THE  GOVERNOR 

Towards  evening  she  allowed  herself  willingly 
to  be  led  back  to  the  hut,  and  swallowed  a  little 
of  the  despised  food.  They  could  see  by  the 
working  of  her  lips  that  it  tasted  to  her  like  hen- 
bane. 

The  folk  drew  off  her  silken  clothes  to  examine 
her  naked  and  see  whether  she  were  marked  as 
a  witch ;  but  they  could  find  nothing. 

She  could  not  be  induced  to  creep  under  the 
warm  skins  where  the  people  of  the  hut  and 
motherless  lambs  were  together  sheltered  from 
the  night,  but  curled  herself  up  on  the  bare  floor 
by  the  threshold,  and  there  she  slept.  Before 
daylight  coloured  the  sky  and  sea  she  pushed 
back  the  door-bolt  and  slipped  out.  Day  after 
day  she  watched  for  the  phantom  ship. 

When  the  next  evening  came  and  she  grew 
fearful  of  the  dew  and  of  the  night,  she  did  not 
seek  the  same  hut  again,  but  the  one  that  hap- 
pened to  be  nearest  her.  No  one  shut  their  door 
against  her,  lest  she  should  cast  the  evil  eye  on 
their  children  or  cattle.  But  as  time  went  on  the 
island  folk  were  more  and  more  ready  to  leave 
her  to  herself. 


THE  GOVERNOR  85 

Not  a  single  friend  did  she  possess,  and  she 
never  spoke  a  word,  even  when  the  primitive 
speech  of  the  island  grew  familiar  to  her  ears. 
But  when  the  salt-pans  were  busy  and  the  end- 
less song  of  the  men  rang  through  the  night, 
whilst  the  flame  ate  its  way  through  the  damp 
sea-weed  and  the  air  quivered  with  the  heat  of 
the  fires,  she  drew  near  to  look  and  listen.  The 
men  did  not  fear  her  nor  she  them.  And  when 
the  sun  stood  high  in  the  vault  of  heaven  she 
plucked  and  plucked  the  juicy  blueberries  that 
grew  by  the  thousand  amongst  the  heather  and 
the  broom  like  shining  beetles.  It  was  her  way 
of  thanking  them  for  their  confidence  and  the 
men  were  glad,  for  the  berries  refreshed  them 
more  than  mead  and  the  sour  hop-drink. 

In  the  summer  nights  she  would  bear  no  roof 
over  her  head,  but  tripped  out  into  the  water  as 
far  as  she  felt  the  ground  under  her  feet,  seated 
herself  on  a  rock  that  rose  out  of  it,  splashed 
about  after  the  little  fishes,  and  whistled  to  the 
seals.  These  latter  came  from  far  off,  drew  a 
wide  circle  about  the  rock  and  listened  to  her 
notes,  but  at  first  they  would  not  venture  to  ap- 


86  THE  GOVERNOR 

proach.  Then  she  would  suddenly  be  silent, 
scarcely  breathing.  As  if  rooted  to  the  rock  she 
would  sit  there.  And  the  creatures  took  courage. 
Nearer  and  nearer  they  would  draw  until  at  last 
they  climbed  upon  the  rock  so  that  she  might 
stroke  with  her  hands  their  silver-white  coats. 
But  if  a  night-fisher  came  in  sight  they  slid  back 
into  the  water  to  the  fish. 

The  island-folk  had  taken  her  clothes  and  put 
on  her  others  that  pricked  her  skin  like  nettles, 
so  that  she  often  had  to  shake  herself.  But  in 
time  she  grew  accustomed  to  them  and  no  longer 
noticed  their  coarseness. 


Runow  was  so  wont  to  see  women  and  children 
get  out  of  his  way  at  his  approach  that  he  had  not 
remarked  the  slender  maid  who  disappeared  be- 
hind the  dunes  whenever  he  came  within  a  bow- 
shot of  her. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  wondered  that  he  so 
often  smelled  a  perfume  of  roses,  since  no  rose- 
tree  would  take  root  upon  the  island.  He  could 
follow  the  scent,  winding  and  twisting,  from 
which  he  concluded  that  it  was  no  morbid  imag- 
ining of  his  brain.  But  if  he  took  only  two  steps 
to  the  side  of  the  path  he  followed  he  lost  the 
trail  in  the  smell  of  the  sea  or  the  strong  odour 
of  the  peat.  On  windless  days  he  often  scented 
the  perfume  in  the  valley  at  the  foot  of  the  dunes. 

But  once  he  saw  in  the  wet  sand  where  his  own 
foot-prints  had  left  their  track,  little  fresh  marks 
made  by  short-tripping  feet.  Who  walked  here 
with  naked  feet?  The  island-folk  so  wrapped 

themselves  in  wool  and  skins  that  the  sweat  rolled 

87 


88  THE  GOVERNOR 

down  them  if  they  so  much  as  moved,  and  they 
swathed  their  children,  too,  from  head  to  foot. 

Here  and  there  the  tracks  laid  inside  his  own; 
he  could  see  how  carefully  they  had  been  made 
that  his  might  not  be  broken.  And  suddenly  it 
became  clear  to  him  that  it  must  be  she  who  was 
entered  in  the  register  as  being  without  name  or 
country  or  age. 

Unexpectedly  she  began  to  occupy  his 
thoughts. 

One  evening  he  was  wandering  beside  the  sea. 
Poisonous  memories  were  weighing  on  his  soul, 
each  one  wounding  him  with  its  sting. 

Now  he  saw  Cornelia  seated  in  her  narrow 
cell.  Did  she  long  for  the  chamber  in  which  she 
had  once  passed  rapturous  nights — or  was  her 
longing  now  dead?  Had  the  vesper-bell  the 
power  to  rock  her  mind  to  peace  so  that  every 
sigh  became  a  humble  prayer  and  atonement?- 
or  did  the  wind  carry  away  with  it  the  cry  of  her 
red,  trembling  lips? 

If  she  should  come  to  him  over  the  sea,  borne 
by  the  obedient  wind  and  the  healing  darkness— 
if  she  should  come  with  her  tender  love,  wind  the 


THE  GOVERNOR  89 

fair  plaits  about  his  neck  and  laugh  so  that  the 
birds  forgot  that  it  was  night  and  sang  with  her 
— Cornelia! 

Ah!  It  would  be  to  bind  a  poultice  on  a  mis- 
erable scratch  whilst  blood  sprang  from  every 
pore. 

For  Brigitte — and  only  Brigitte — only  she  in 
all  the  world — 

Endless  melancholy  overwhelmed  him.  His 
head  sank  to  the  ground,  he  pressed  his  forehead 
upon  the  sea-sand  and  his  tears  flowed. 

The  little  maid  was  quite  near,  but  he  did  not 
know  it.  Every  time  that  he  stopped  and  drew 
breath  with  a  sigh  she  held  her  hand  before  her 
mouth  that  he  might  not  hear  how  sadly  she  too 
was  obliged  to  sigh. 

Ever  since  the  night  when  he  had  passed  the 
rock  on  which  she  sat,  and  looked  at  her  with  un- 
seeing eyes  whilst  the  moonlight  fell  upon  his 
face,  she  had  thought  of  him.  Night  after  night 
she  had  followed  him  noiselessly  from  point  to 
point  of  land.  Him,  the  mightiest  man  of  the 
island! 

But  she  never  dared  to  approach  him  by  day. 


90  THE  GOVERNOR 

Only  once,  when  she  found  him  sleeping  on  the 
dunes,  she  had  crept  up  to  him  and  touched  his 
forehead  with  her  finger. 

Now  she  stood  terrified.  Her  ears  were  sharp 
as  those  of  the  birds  of  prey,  but  what  sounds 
were  these?  He  lay  still,  quite  still,  like  the  cold 
people  whom  the  sea  rolled  in  upon  the  strand 
after  a  storm.  Never  before  had  she  seen  men 
weep,  now  she  felt  so  great  a  pain  that  she  must 
needs  bite  her  lips. 

To  console  herself  she  began  to  hum  the  song 
that  her  mother  and  the  other  women  had  sung 
down  by  the  river  when  they  washed  their  linen. 
She  rocked  the  upper  part  of  her  body  to  and  fro 
as  they  had  been  wont  to  do,  and  when  the  song 
came  to  an  end  she  closed  it  with  the  long  com- 
plaint that  arose  along  the  shore  when  the  bodies 
of  sucklings  floated  down  the  stream  amongst 
great  blossoms.  Then  the  women  bowed  their 
heads  until  their  hair  touched  the  water,  wetted 
their  eyes,  and  plucked  upon  the  shore  flowers 
with  long  stems  which  they  sent  floating  after 
the  little  bodies.  She  would  not  think  of  it  more, 


THE  GOVERNOR  91 

for  then  she  saw  again  how  the  man  seized  her 
mother  and  how  the  other  women  stoned  her. 

Runow  rose.  He  felt  two  damp,  cold  hands 
on  his  face.  He  encircled  with  his  arms  a  supple, 
trembling  body.  From  the  hair  came  that  in- 
toxicating perfume  of  roses  that  had  so  often 
guided  his  footsteps. 

He  tried  to  speak,  but  she  laid  her  little  hand 
over  his  mouth,  and  seated  herself  beside  him  in 
the  sand,  rocking  her  head  and  crying  and 
laughing.  Then  she  fell  asleep. 


The  people  murmured  when  the  governor  of 
the  island  so  forgot  the  high  dignity  of  his  office 
as  to  take  the  crafty  huzzy  into  his  house  as 
though  she  had  been  of  his  kin.  And  in  addition 
he  bribed  that  servant  of  the  Lord,  Magister 
Egede  Glob,  to  perform  a  sacrilegious  baptism; 
for  he  gave  her  the  name  of  the  eternally  cursed 
and  called  her  Kaina. 

But  he  named  her  thus  after  his  mother. 

Runow  considered  it  right  that  she  should  be 
instructed  in  all  the  excellent  laws  of  God  and 
the  precepts  of  the  Bible.  In  this  he  requested 
the  aid  of  Egede  Glob. 

But  to  all  that  the  pastor  tried  to  impress  upon 
her  with  rolling  eyes  and  whirling  arms  and  a 
bellow  like  that  of  a  bull,  she  listened  as  to  the 
rush  and  roar  of  the  wind  and  water;  she  under- 
stood not  a  word  of  it. 

If  he  continued  to  repeat  it  with  waxing  anger 

92 


THE  GOVERNOR  93 

she  pressed  her  jaws  together  and  ground  her 
teeth  as  if  she  were  eating  sand. 

When  he  exorcised  her,  laying  his  hand  on 
her  head,  a  shudder  shook  her  down  to  her  knees, 
for  his  fingers  smelled  of  stale  fish.  But  he  saw 
in  this  a  proof  that  the  Evil  One  had  entered  into 
her  and  that  his  unclean  blood  flowed  in  her 
veins. 

Glob  would  undoubtedly  have  driven  the  devil 
out  of  her  in  another  fashion  had  the  instruction 
taken  place  elsewhere  than  at  Klitgaard  and  in 
the  very  room  where  Runow  himself  sat.  But 
Runow  gave  himself  plenty  of  leisure,  and  the 
pastor  must  put  up  with  the  shame  of  seeing  how, 
whenever  he  threw  her  a  glance,  the  huzzy 
laughed  all  over  her  face.  It  was  true  that  they 
did  not  speak  to  each  other  whilst  the  lesson 
lasted,  but  dumb  lips  and  gleaming  eyes  can  be 
eloquent  enough,  and  Glob  saw  clearly  that  they 
held  intercourse  in  spite  of  it,  though  in  a  tongue 
that,  like  the  motes  in  the  sunshine  of  a  room, 
danced  noiselessly  up  and  down. 

At  length  Egede  Glob  begged  to  be  relieved 
of  all  responsibility  for  the  uncomprehending 


94  THE  GOVERNOR 

maid.  She  understood  that  and  peeped  up  joy- 
fully under  half-closed  eyelids.  Runow  agreed 
and  undertook  the  post  of  spiritual  instructor 
himself.  He  chose  the  book  of  Chronicles,  and 
tried  with  vivid  words  to  impress  it  upon  her. 
Quietly  and  gently  she  listened  to  him,  but  if 
he  was  silent  another  chronicle  formed  itself 
dreamily  upon  her  lips,  unlike  that  of  the  Bible, 
but  equally  splendid.  It  seemed  as  though  she 
forced  her  words  out  with  difficulty;  they  came 
drop  by  drop,  and  never  in  a  stream.  In  the 
midst  of  it  she  would  suddenly  pause  and  listen 
with  uplifted  hand  as  if  she  would  seize  what  she 
heard,  but  soon  the  words  began  again  to  trickle 
out. 

Runow  was  obliged  to  divide  the  time  for  her, 
and  to  separate  day  and  night,  that  day  might  be 
employed  for  work  and  the  night  for  rest.  He 
placed,  in  the  narrow  chamber  near  his  own 
room,  a  little  bed  for  the  girl.  But  for  a  long 
time  she  would  not  climb  into  it. 

Runow  had  to  show  her  how  to  take  off  her 
clothes,  and  he  himself  crept  into  his  railed  bed. 

Then  came  the  night.    The  curtains  of  the  bed 


THE  GOVERNOR  95 

looked  black.  She  could  not  see  him,  but  she 
could  very  well  hear  him,  and  he  pretended  to 
sleep. 

Kaina  crouched  on  the  steps  of  the  bed,  her 
face  in  her  hands. 

Then  Runow  got  up  and  opened  the  trap-door 
of  the  loft.  Overhead  was  the  clear  opening  of 
the  roof. 

Now  she  could  see  the  stars  and  hear  the  night- 
wind  pass  across  the  sky.  Runow  drew  a  stool 
under  the  opening,  seated  himself  beside  her, 
and  told  her  about  the  stars  far  away  up  above 
them,  that  wandered  from  eternity  to  eternity  in 
their  destined  course.  But  if  one  star  loved  an- 
other and  could  never  reach  it,  it  threw  itself 
from  the  vault  of  heaven  down  into  the  sea,  and 
was  extinguished  and  drowned. 

Not  Brigitte,  but  Cornelia,  had  taught  him  in 
her  innocence  what  he  now  told  the  child  by 
night. 

But  Kaina  sat  beside  him,  her  face  turned  up 
to  the  window,  and  dreamed  out  into  the  night- 
sky. 

No — the  stars  were  souls.     Souls,  that  have 


96  THE  GOVERNOR 

never  prayed  for  eternal  peace.  They  die  and 
God  pulls  off  their  wings,  that  they  may  not  fly 
about  in  the  holy  heaven.  But  over  the  clouds 
where  the  white  cold  and  the  god  of  hunger 
dwell,  they  are  nailed  fast.  They  shiver  with  fear 
and  cold.  Then  they  suffer  remorse  and  long  for 
the  river  that  sings  eternal  songs.  At  last  Buddha 
pities  them  and  gives  the  souls  their  wings  again, 
but  they  have  forgotten  how  to  fly  and  fall  tired 
into  the  blue  water  where  people  sail  in  long 
boats.  So  soon  as  they  touch  the  water,  however, 
they  are  changed  into  silver  scales,  and  the  scales 
fasten  themselves  on  the  nimble  fish,  that  carry 
them  over  the  seven  seas  and  the  hundred  waters 
of  the  world  to  the  singing  river  that  is  ever  grey 
like  the  mist  on  the  mountains. 

Runow  looked  up  to  the  hurrying  clouds.  The 
sickle  of  the  moon  glided  forth.  It  was  mid- 
night. He  felt  Kaina's  head  rest  on  his  shoulder 
—she  was  asleep.  He  carefully  carried  her  to 
her  couch. 

After  that  she  slept  willingly  in  the  narrow 
bed,  but  the  oaken  rails  made  blue  marks  on  her 


THE  GOVERNOR  97 

arms  and  legs  when  she  rolled  herself  about  in 
the  confined  space. 

Runow  taught  her  to  write,  and  half  the  day 
through  she  wrote  with  a  stick  in  the  smooth 
sand.  Runow  was  wise,  and  he  had  said  that 
written  messages  could  be  carried  to  the  middle 
of  the  world,  and  so  she  wrote  to  the  souls  of 
her  mother  and  all  her  little  sisters  who  lived 
under  the  great  mountains. 

Runow  taught  her  to  count  on  her  fingers  the 
days  of  the  month,  and  the  days  of  the  year.  It 
occurred  to  her  to  count  the  stars  and  to  write 
in  the  sand  how  many  fell  and  were  changed  to 
silver  scales. 

Faithfully  she  worked  with  slate  and  pencil. 
As  she  did  so  her  tongue  crept  out  of  the  corner 
of  her  mouth,  and  her  black,  curly  hair  twined 
about  the  slate.  But  in  the  hooks  of  the  letters 
and  figures  she  drew  little  flowers,  little  fishes, 
and  little  stars,  and  Runow  had  some  difficulty 
in  finding  his  way  in  the  maze  of  her  writing. 


Sometimes  Runow's  duties  took  him  to  the 
wood  in  the  centre  of  the  island  to  give  atten- 
tion to  the  felling  and  planting  of  trees,  but  this 
journey  was  not  to  his  taste. 

In  the  woods  of  Liinegaard  and  Seven-Isles 
the  trees  had  stood  like  pillars  in  the  aisle  of  a 
church.  Through  the  vaulted  crowns  the  light 
filtered  as  through  a  silken  sieve  and  fell  in  nar- 
row rays  upon  the  ground  where  fern  and  wood- 
ruff took  root  The  cattle-bells  tinkled  in  many- 
toned  echoes.  Heavy-bellied  swine  trotted 
along  in  slow  herds,  and  the  bushy  tails  of  the 
foxes  chased  gleaming  butterflies  into  flight.  If 
the  air  darkened  at  twilight  or  during  rain,  hum- 
ming swarms  of  gnats  passed  through  the  under- 
brush. And  every  branch  bore  a  nest. 

But  in  the  Laeso  wood  it  was  dark  and  cold. 
The  network  of  branches  was  knotted  so  fast 
with  tough  twigs  that  not  even  a  snake  could 

creep  through  the  thick  mass.     Between  slimy 

98 


THE  GOVERNOR  99 

pools  and  dead  branches  poisonous  mushrooms 
shot  up  out  of  the  earth.  When  the  wood-cutter 
drove  his  axe  into  the  roots,  or  his  saw  into  the 
bark  of  a  tree  by  the  light  of  the  lantern — for 
nothing  would  catch  fire  in  the  damp  air — one 
heard  a  mournful  shriek  like  the  cry  of  an  ani- 
mal in  pain.  The  edge  of  the  axe  would  be  blunt 
by  the  third  stroke  and  the  teeth  of  the  saw  bit 
like  a  knife  in  water.  But  it  happened,  too,  that 
trunks  five  ells  in  circumference  went  down  like 
old  men  knocked  over  by  a  box  on  the  ear  when 
the  axe  was  only  three  inches  deep  in  the  bark. 
That  the  nutrition  of  the  soil  was  exhausted 
could  be  seen  when  the  seven  hundred  young 
saplings  that  were  sent  every  year  from  Saby  by 
ship  and  planted  in  the  clearings,  immediately 
rotted  and  did  not  take  root. 

Kaina  feared  the  darkness  of  the  woods  and 
hesitated  to  accompany  Runow.  Again  and 
again  she  promised  to  go  with  him,  but  when  he 
took  the  road  Kaina  was  gone,  and  when  he  came 
home  she  went  so  coaxingly  to  meet  him  that  he 
could  not  be  angry  with  her.  But  one  day  Kaina 
went  readily  enough. 


ioo  THE  GOVERNOR 

So  long  as  the  light  from  the  fringe  of  the 
wood  surrounded  their  path  her  hand  rested 
quietly  in  his  like  a  sleeping  bird.  Runow  bent 
gently  over  her  with  encouraging  words,  but  he 
saw  that  she  walked  as  if  in  sleep  with  wide- 
open,  dark  eyes.  He  pretended  not  to  notice  it, 
and  held  her  hand  the  faster.  They  went  far- 
ther. Darkness  wrapped  them  round. 

Suddenly  she  tore  her  hand  from  his  and 
rushed  away  before  he  could  recover  himself 
and  hold  her  back. 

Round  about  them  rang  the  screams  of  the 
axes — was  it  these  that  had  frightened  Kaina? 

"Kaina,"  he  cried,  "Kaina!"  Echo  called 
back  the  name,  but  without  answer.  Some- 
times it  seemed  to  him  as  if  he  heard  twigs  and 
branches  crackle  and  the  rustle  of  creeping 
game. 

From  one  tree  to  another  he  called  her  and 
wondered  at  the  hoarse  croaking  that  rebounded 
from  the  trunks. 

Frightened  child,  silly  child!  With  covered 
eyes  she  could  tell  the  four  quarters  of  the 
heaven.  She  could  not  lose  her  way  from  here 


THE  GOVERNOR  101 

back  to  Klitgaard.  But  even  if  she  were  lost 
the  wood  was  not  half  a  mile  wide  in  its  widest 
part.  Half  of  it  was  probably  play  and  half 
fright. 

She  would  soon  find  her  way  out  to  the  golden 
sunshine  and  run  towards  the  dunes.  In  a  little 
while  she  would  be  lying  there  exceedingly 
pleased  at  her  trick. 

He  forced  himself  to  believe  this,  but  went 
forward  slowly,  listening  to  every  rustling  sound 
whenever  the  axes  were  silent. 

Then  he  saw  the  reddish-yellow  glow  of  the 
flickering  lanterns,  heard  the  rough  voices  of 
the  woodmen,  and  could  distinguish  the  saw 
from  the  axe.  The  work  ceased  for  a  while,  the 
men  turned  to  him  and  murmured  a  "good  day" 
and  "good  journey,"  but  no  one  smiled  at  him  in 
welcome.  And  once  more  the  axe  made  wedges 
in  the  marked  trees.  The  lanterns  were  carried 
round  the  men's  throats,  so  that  the  light  fell 
upon  their  faces  and  streaked  the  ground  as  if 
with  bloody  wounds. 

"Have  you  seen  Kaina — she  ran  away  irom 
me?"  he  asked,  and  could  not  keep  himself  from 


102  THE  GOVERNOR 

asking.  But  no  one  answered  him,  and  he  con- 
tinued, "If  she  should  pass  show  her  the  way 
back  to  Klitgaard  immediately." 

All  were  silent.  But  as  he  continued  his  path 
he  heard  a  burst  of  laughter  that  cut  him  to 
nerve  and  bone,  for  he  knew  that  they  were 
mocking  at  him  for  the  sake  of  Kaina. 

He  wandered  on  at  hazard.  Then  there  came 
to  his  ear  a  shriek  so  piercing  that  he  must  needs 
cry  out,  too.  And  now  he  rushed  on,  knocking 
himself  against  the  tree-trunks  as  if  he  would 
turn  them  over,  ran  and  ran. 

And  no  one  answered  him.  He  tried  to 
deaden  his  fear.  Was  it  only  an  imaginary  cry 
with  which  his  excited  imagination  had  de- 
ceived him?  Or  was  it  the  scream  of  the  saw 
against  a  hard  knot,  or  a  wounded  bird? 

But  his  anxiety  increased,  and  he  could  hear 
the  beating  of  his  heart. 

Every  mound  of  earth  upon  the  island  should 
be  claimed  as  forfeit  if  a  hair  of  Kaina's  head 
were  injured.  Every  man  should  leave  his  work, 
form  a  circle  about  the  wood  and  search.  The 
peat-holes  should  be  dragged  to  the  bottom.  But 


THE  GOVERNOR  103 

the  sea — the  sea  was  beyond  the  power  and  will 
of  man. 

He  seated  himself  upon  a  stump,  dead  tired. 
His  thoughts  rested  with  folded  wings.  He  fell 
into  a  doze.  When  he  rose  he  recollected  the 
errand  that  had  led  him  to  the  wood,  and  to 
provide  himself  with  occupation  he  returned  to 
the  wood-cutters  and  ordered  them  to  leave  their 
work  and  to  spend  the  following  seven  days  in 
planting.  Should  the  salt-pans  need  fuel  they 
might  rest  or  use  the  time  in  scraping  sea-weed. 
The  planting  must  not  be  postponed. 

They  knew  well  enough  that  if  the  governor 
of  the  island  brought  them  the  message  himself 
it  was  because  the  matter  was  urgent,  for  the 
lords  of  the  chapter-house  were  severe.  They 
bowed  their  backs  in  acquiescence,  but  con- 
tinued their  task. 

"Have  you  seen  Kaina?" 

There  was  little  sympathy  in  face  or  back  as 
they  drawled  out  their  "nay." 

"Did  you  hear  anything  cry  out?" 

"Wet  saws  soon  grow  rusty  in  their  speech — 


104  THE  GOVERNOR 

and  the  axe-blades  screech  more  than  they  sing 
— we  have  heard  no  other  cry!" 

Runow  grew  angry  at  the  answer. 

"Do  you  loiter  to  do  my  bidding  and  obey  the 
orders  of  the  chapter-house?" 

One  murmured,  sulkily,  "Cannot  the  women 
grub  in  the  earth  and  plant  in  our  place?" 

"You  have  heard  my  order — be  off  at  once 
to  your  work!" 

They  mumbled,  half  surly,  half  afraid,  with 
loose  lips,  but  dried  the  blades  of  their  axes  on 
their  sleeves,  hung  their  saws  over  their  shoul- 
ders, fastened  their  lights  aright  and  tramped 
away.  The  soil  squelched  under  their  weight. 
Giant  shadows  glided  out  from  between  the  tree- 
trunks  and  followed  them. 

Runow  went  towards  the  sea  where  Kaina 
was  wont  to  play.  She  was  not  there. 

When  he  reached  Klitgaard  he  found  Idel, 
the  wife  of  the  net-weaver,  Germund,  waiting 
for  him  on  the  threshold.  She  came  in  the  name 
of  God  and  of  all  submissive  island-folk,  but 
especially  sent  by  Hendrik,  the  strand-bailiff. 
He  dared  no  more  keep  the  bits  of  silver  and 


THE  GOVERNOR  105 

silk  that  Kaina  had  worn  when  she  was  found. 
Four  winters  they  had  lain  on  the  beams  between 
two  blessed  wooden  crosses,  and  Hendrik 
would  not  open  the  bundle.  He  did  not  give  it 
away  either,  for  no  one  would  have  it  in  his 
house.  It  was  full  of  perfume,  strong  as  mead, 
and  tickled  the  nostrils.  But  with  time  the  smell 
of  fish  and  the  smoke  had  driven  out  the  per- 
fume. Hendrik  would  have  kept  silence  till  his 
death  but  that  his  twin-lambs,  four  weeks  old 
and  fat,  lay  with  stretched-out  legs. 

He  had  asked  counsel  of  wise  men  and  they 
had  declared  that  evil  powers  lay  in  the  bundle 
on  the  beam.  In  addition,  the  upper  cross  had 
fallen  down  into  the  ashes  with  a  great  noise  the 
night  before  as  the  cock  crowed,  and  as  Hendrik 
had  crept  out  of  bed  to  save  the  holy  symbol, 
he  had  burned  himself  badly  in  the  embers. 
Here  was  the  bundle.  Hendrik  had  promised  to 
set  an  iron  band  on  Idel's  broken  door  if  she 
would  go  in  place  of  him  to  the  gracious  lord. 

But  as  she  feared  all  further  conversation  on 
the  subject  she  waddled  away. 

Runow  opened  the  knots  of  the  creased  mor- 


io6  THE  GOVERNOR 

sels  that  had  covered  Kama's  body  years  before 
when  she  lay  out  upon  the  sea-weed.  He 
smoothed  out  the  silk.  It  was  fine  and  soft,  and 
the  colours  were  subdued  like  the  shimmer  of  a 
vanishing  rainbow.  He  found  a  little  bodice 
with  arm-holes,  the  rest  seemed  to  consist  of 
handkerchiefs,  sashes  and  bands,  all  glimmering 
with  silken  threads. 

It  was  now  too  small  for  the  maiden  who  cried 
for  a  birch-bath  and  combed  her  hair  with  her 
fingers. 

In  a  reverie  he  spread  the  pieces  over  her  bed. 
There  lay,  under  her  pillow,  the  little  silver  tube 
filled  with  oil  pressed  from  the  roses  of  the 
mountains,  the  tube  that  was  covered  with  runes 
in  Kaina's  tongue,  wound  about  with  needle- 
fine  braids,  and  protected  by  a  sheath  of  ebony. 
It  had  crossed  the  sea  to  Kaina  like  a  greeting 
from  the  home-land.  And  she  greedily  pre- 
served the  costly  drops,  each  of  which  intoxi- 
cated with  its  perfume.  Only  when  the  moon 
changed  and  when  Kaina,  turned  towards  the 
east,  recited  her  childish  prayer,  did  she  salve 
with  it  the  crown  of  her  head  and  the  soles  of 


THE  GOVERNOR  107 

her  feet  All  over  the  house  one  could  trace  the 
perfume — but  Kaina  was  not  there. 

Runow  longed  for  rest  and  the  hunger  of  a 
whole  day  gnawed  at  him,  but  he  dared  not  seek 
repose.  Distant  thunder  shook  the  floor  of  the 
house,  the  benches  creaked.  He  opened  the  door 
and  went  out.  The  clouds  hung  low.  Under 
them  the  wind  blew  from  the  east  and  from  the 
west  with  burning  heat.  Like  summer  lightning 
the  fluttering  butterflies  shimmered  against  the 
thunder-clouds.  Moor-hens  hurried  to  their 
nests.  Beetles  buzzed  towards  the  heather,  seek- 
ing shelter. 

The  sea  swelled  heavily,  cleft  by  swift  flashes. 
Out  of  the  deafening  noise  grew  silence,  and  all 
was  still  again.  The  rain  began  to  fall. 

Runow  reached  the  boundary  of  the  wood. 
Flashes  of  lightning  made  the  earth  seem  red 
with  glowing  steam.  He  gasped,  suffocated  by 
the  heat. 

He  must  find  the  child  and  press  her  to  his 
breast.  And  out  of  the  deep  anxiety  of  his  heart 
arose  the  certainty  that  Kaina  was  now  near. 


io8  THE  GOVERNOR 

He  hesitated,  fearing  to  tread  upon  her,  and 
stood  still  to  listen. 

But  the  thunder  roared  about  him  as  if  all  the 
rolling  stones  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea  had 
been  whirled  up  into  the  clouds  and  again  cast 
down  by  force  of  gravity  upon  the  wood,  fol- 
lowed by  pouring  spring  floods. 

A  flash  illumined  everything  around  him.  In 
the  glow  he  saw  Kaina  but  two  steps  away,  her 
arms  stretched  out  towards  him.  There  was 
blood  on  her  face.  But  another  flash  broke 
through  the  clouds  and  felled  him  to  the  ground 
and  towards  Kaina.  He  felt  the  blood  from  her 
face  trickle  over  his  forehead  and  was  seized 
with  horror.  Pains  shot  through  every  limb, 
and  they  were  as  if  crippled,  but  the  warm  blood 
streamed  over  his  brow  and  glued  his  eyelids 
together. 

It  was  late  in  the  night  when  Runow  at  length 
ventured  to  rise,  take  Kaina  in  his  arms  and  flee 
from  the  wood. 

But  she  was  dumb  as  a  dead  bird.  He  only 
knew  that  she  lived  by  the  beating  of  her  heart 
against  his  own.  He  became  easier  when  she 


THE  GOVERNOR  109 

lay  in  her  narrow  bed  and  her  wounds  had  been 
dressed  with  linen  soaked  in  oil,  and  her  breath 
came  and  went  softly  in  sleep. 

He  meant  to  watch  over  her  until  the  day 
came,  and  to  learn  from  her  what  had  happened 
in  the  wood.  But  he  slept  beside  her  and  only 
awakened  in  the  clear  daylight.  Kaina  sat  on 
the  floor,  busily  binding  the  gay-coloured  silks 
about  her  body.  She  stretched  them  out  and 
shook  her  head  in  amazement.  She  cried  im- 
ploringly, pathetically,  in  the  tongue  of  which 
Runow  understood  not  a  syllable.  Then  she 
passed  her  hand  over  her  arms  and  legs  as  if 
she  were  seeking  something  that  was  gone. 
Runow  fetched  from  the  corner  by  the  stove  all 
the  chains  of  amber  and  mussel-shell  that  she 
had  strung  together  and  was  wont  to  bind  on  her 
ankles  and  arms,  but  she  let  them  fall  through 
her  fingers  to  the  floor,  wept  bitterly,  and  cov- 
ered her  face  with  her  hair. 

Days  and  weeks  passed  before  she  came  to 
herself  again.  Then  she  only  knew  that  she  had 
let  go  of  Runow's  hand  and  had  fallen  over  a 
bough  with  living  teeth.  It  had  bitten  her  fore- 


i io  THE  GOVERNOR 

head,  and  all  the  other  trees  had  tried  to  bite  her 
too.  She  had  heard  him  call,  but  had  not  been 
able  to  utter  a  word. 

That  was  the  only  time  that  Kama  entered 
the  wood  of  Laeso. 


One  night  she  awoke.  Runow's  stealthy  foot- 
steps had  disturbed  her  dreams,  and  now  she 
heard  him  walking  up  and  down,  up  and  down. 

For  four  days  she  had  tried  in  vain  to  capture 
his  glance.  It  had  passed  over  her  and  by  her 
without  meeting  hers.  She  put  her  fingers  in 
her  ears,  but  the  knocking  in  her  head  only 
sounded  louder.  For  a  long  time  he  continued 
to  walk  up  and  down,  and  at  length  he  threw 
himself  upon  his  bed,  unable  to  rest. 

Kaina  struggled  to  remain  quiet.  Twice  she 
sat  up,  the  third  time  she  sprang  out  onto  the 
floor,  folded  her  hands  cross-wise  over  her  breast 
to  subdue  the  beating  of  her  heart,  and  crept 
over  the  threshold  to  Runow.  Over  the  iron 
steps  she  reached  the  railing,  pushed  back  the 
door,  and  glided  inside  like  a  bird  into  its  nest. 

Runow  could  scarcely  breathe  so  tightly  did 
she  press  her  arms  about  his  neck,  and  he  was 
forced  to  laugh.  But  in  the  same  moment  Kaina 


in 


ii2  THE  GOVERNOR 

realized  that  she  was  naked,  and  overcome  with 
shame,  crept  over  to  the  wall.  There  she  lay 
and  sobbed,  with  all  her  ten  fingers  in  her  mouth. 
Runow  thought  that  evil  dreams  had  frightened 
her,  and  had  not  the  heart  to  send  her  away,  but 
talked  to  her  gently. 

As  she  would  not  leave  off  crying  he  thought 
that  there  must  be  something  wrong  with  her, 
and  asked  whether  she  suffered. 

And  as  he  asked  that  she  felt  an  intense  pain 
under  her  left  breast.  She  pressed  her  hand 
upon  it  without  answering,  and  Runow,  who 
saw  the  gesture,  put  out  his  hand  to  touch  the 
sore  place;  but  he  felt  that  her  breast  was  round 
and  warm  as  that  of  a  maiden. 

He  drew  back  his  hand  and  suddenly  found 
himself  unable  to  speak. 

To  break  the  shamed  silence  he  began  to  twist 
her  long  hair  about  his  hand.  It  was  so  long 
that  it  flowed  over  the  pillow  onto  the  smooth 
leather  of  the  couch,  and  it  smelled  of  roses. 

He  spread  it  over  his  tired  eyes  and  his  face, 
and  laid  his  cheek  to  rest  upon  it.  Unconsciously 
he  continued  to  pull  lock  after  lock  towards  him, 


THE  GOVERNOR  113 

and  did  not  notice  that  her  head  yielded  and  was 
bent  backwards  by  his  gentle  tugs.  At  last  her 
neck  lay  under  his  mouth,  but  then  he  fell  asleep 
—resting  heavily  on  Kama's  hair. 

She  dared  not  move  even  to  draw  the  coverlet 
over  her  shivering  body  or  to  creep  nearer  to 
him.  Her  head  was  so  near  his  that  every  breath 
warmed  her  neck  comfortingly. 

The  hair  stretched  and  the  roots  pricked  like 
sharp  thorns.  But  he  might  pull  every  hair  from 
her  head  if  it  so  pleased  him,  she  would  make  no 
sound. 

And  he  slept  on. 

"Brigitte — Brigitte "  She  did  not  forget 

the  word.  Was  it  a  star,  was  it  a  flower?  But 
as  he  cried  it  again  in  piteous  tones  Kaina  be- 
came jealous  of  the  word.  She  knew  that  Ru- 
now  had  come  from  over  the  sea,  but  she  knew 
neither  river  nor  mountain  of  his  native  land. 

In  the  morning  when  Runow  lifted  his  head 
from  the  pillow  to  see  what  the  hour  might  be 
he  was  greatly  astounded,  for  there  lay  Kaina  as 
naked  as  if  the  sea  had  thrown  her  up.  And  he 
had  slept  upon  her  hair — and  dreamed  sweetly 


ii4  THE  GOVERNOR 

of  Brigitte.  He  wished  to  spread  the  coverlet 
over  her,  her  shoulders  were  so  cold  that  they 
chilled  his  hands;  but  he  would  not  let  his  glance 
rest  on  her,  feeling  that  it  would  be  an  insult  to 
the  young  body.  And  when  Kaina  awoke  a  mo- 
ment later  Runow  lay  staring  at  the  ceiling. 

No,  never  had  he  enjoyed  such  healthy  slum- 
ber or  dreamed  so  sweetly  as  now  with  his  head 
upon  her  hair.  This  night  he  had  been  wander- 
ing in  a  rose-garden. 

He  told  her  so  without  turning  his  eyes  upon 
her,  rose,  and  dressed  himself  hastily  that  she 
might  have  the  couch  in  peace. 

The  railing  was  cold,  but  from  the  middle  of 
the  bed  where  Runow  had  lain  there  streamed 
towards  her  a  warmth  that  caught  at  her  as  if 
with  supple  fingers.  She  knew  not  what  to  do 
for  shame,  fire  seemed  to  trickle  down  her  back. 
When  she  walked  her  knees  knocked  together, 
and  she  felt  the  warm  life  of  her  body  like  an- 
other being  that  wrapped  her  round  and  de- 
voured her,  and  would  no  more  let  her  be. 

But  Runow  had  said,  "Never  have  I  slept  so 
soundly." 


THE  GOVERNOR  115 

Kaina  weighed  her  hair  in  her  hand  and  went 
to  Germund's  good-natured  wife,  Idel.  Old 
Idel  took  the  sheep-shears,  sang  a  penitential 
psalm,  and  cut  all  the  hair  from  Kaina's  head. 
Like  broken  tendrils  the  locks  fell  to  the  ground, 
and  as  each  fell  it  was  like  a  stab  through  bone 
and  marrow.  It  seemed  to  her  that  the  hair 
moaned.  Over  the  stubble  of  her  head  Idel 
strewed  ashes  from  the  hearth  that  Kaina  might 
not  be  attacked  by  the  cold  pestilence. 

And  Kaina  left  the  hut  carrying  the  dead,  cold 
hair.  It  had  curled  so  wildly  before.  Now 
it  lay  smooth  from  wrist  to  wrist  like  a  skein  of 
wool  to  be  wound.  It  felt  chill  and  damp. 

From  the  bundle  under  her  pillow  she  chose 
a  piece  of  silk,  red  as  poppies,  went  to  Idel  once 
more,  and  for  three  whole  days  learned  to  cut 
and  sew  out  of  the  silk  a  little  cushion.  With 
the  last  drops  of  the  oil  of  roses  from  her  little 
tube  she  scented  her  hair,  hid  it  in  the  cushion 
and  sewed  it  up.  Where  the  couch  was  highest 
she  laid  it.  But  she  felt  as  though  she  had  torn 
her  own  red  heart  from  her  breast  and  given  it  to 
Runow. 


ii6  THE  GOVERNOR 

And  night  after  night  Runow  slept  upon  it 
and  could  not  turn  his  thoughts  from  the  stubbly 
head  of  the  child  and  her  eyes  that  no  longer  met 
his,  but  were  downcast  in  pain  and  shame. 

The  spring  days  came,  so  rich  in  light  from 
the  high  heaven  down  to  the  white  floor  of  the 
sea;  but  the  light  blinded  him.  The  sun  itself 
seemed  to  stand  between  him  and  her,  his  words 
sounded  as  distant  as  a  call  from  mountain  to 
mountain  over  a  deep  valley. 

Runow  called  her  a  child,  and  knew  that  she 
was  a  maiden.  His  manner  towards  her  changed 
as  a  wind  that  blows  from  hot  to  cold.  If  she 
entered,  unexpectedly  and  humbly,  the  chamber 
in  which  he  was  bending  gloomily  over  his 
heavy  law-books,  he  drove  her  away  again 
either  with  his  silence  or  unwilling  words,  or  he 
himself  left  the  room.  But  if  she  wandered 
away  from  Klitgaard  and  lay  down  to  rest  wher- 
ever she  chanced  to  be  when  night  fell,  his  mind 
would  be  filled  with  vain  unrest. 

One  day  he  sent  an  urgent  message  to  Flad- 
strand,  to  purchase  for  Kaina  more  suitable  gar- 
ments and  robes  reaching  to  the  ground,  that  he 


THE  GOVERNOR  117 

need  no  longer  be  obliged  to  notice  how  her 
limbs  took  on  softly  rounded  forms.  But  for  her 
hair,  that  grew  luxuriantly  like  shoots  on  a 
lopped  tree-trunk,  a  comb  and  a  tight-fitting 
cap.  Kaina  obediently  put  on  the  garments,  but 
felt  herself  like  a  miserable  prisoner  in  the  many 
bands  and  strings. 

There  came  a  day  when  Runow  had  double 
bolts  set  upon  the  oaken  door  between  Kama's 
chamber  and  his  own,  so  that  in  future  he  must 
pass  by  the  wing  of  the  house  and  through  the 
turret-door  when  he  wished  to  enter  his  room 
from  the  others.  He  could  give  no  other  reason 
for  this  than  that  now  Kaina  might  sleep  un- 
disturbed by  him. 

He  himself  drew  the  bolt  and  fastened  a  pad- 
lock upon  the  door — yet  he  often  left  his  couch, 
drawn  by  greedy  longing,  to  try  whether  it  were 
not  open.  But  it  did  not  give  under  his  grasp. 

It  would  have  had  to  be  broken  in. 

But  what  he  would  have  done  had  it  been 
open  he  himself  did  not  know. 


In  a  letter  from  Simen  came  a  greeting  writ- 
;  ten  by  Brigitte's  hand;  a  greeting  and  nothing 
more.    It  was  like  an  empty  tankard  set  to  the 
lips  of  a  thirsty  man. 

Brigitte  was  at  Lunegaard,  surrounded  by 
suitors  for  her  hand  and  heart.  Over  the  draw- 
bridge they  were  so  easily  admitted  to  the  manor, 
so  hospitably  received,  and  then  so  quietly  des- 
patched, that  it  was  pitiful  to  see.  She  sat  at  her 
embroidery-frame  and  drew  her  needleful  of  the 
reddest  wool  in  and  out  of  the  linen,  whether  the 
suitors  laughed  or  wept.  And  on  the  linen  ap- 
,  peared  storks  with  long  beaks,  geese,  churches, 
and  skies  with  clouds,  all  rosy-red.  As  she 
smiled  in  greeting  to  them  and  as  she  smiled  in 
farewell  she  showed  all  her  white  teeth,  but 
closed  her  lips  tightly  to  every  fresh  proposal. 

Simen  sat  beside  her  in  the  hall.    He  would 
draw  maps  of  the  lands  that  they  had  seen,  with 

dots  for  every  town  and  lines  for  every  river 

118 


THE  GOVERNOR  119 

they  had  visited,  and  with  Simen  she  discussed 
all  manner  of  topics. 

On  the  linen  there  appeared  also  ripe  grapes 
and  begging  friars — she  was  no  past-mistress  in 
the  art  of  needlework,  and  Simen  often  laughed 
at  her;  but  she  could  always  tell  him  when  and 
where  she  had  seen  this,  that,  and  the  other. 

He  had  advised  her  to  keep  a  journal  from 
the  beginning  of  their  voyage ;  it  was  well  to  do 
so  if  one  wished  to  retain  the  memory  of  it. 
There  still  lay  in  her  travel-chest  with  the  bronze 
bands  an  almanac  full  of  empty  pages,  but  one 
word  was  written  on  the  first  and  last.  It  was 
"Runow,"  and  nothing  but  that. 

As  she  now  sat  at  Liinegaard  in  her  stately 
splendour,  knowing  that  Hilleborg,  in  a  peas- 
ant's dress  of  coarse  ticking,  was  forced  to  en- 
dure the  blows  and  rough  speech  of  her  hus- 
band, she  realized  the  power  of  wealth  and  the 
joy  of  freedom. 

It  rested  with  her  to  make  Runow  happy 
above  all  other  men.  And  she  saw  that  the 
anger  trickled  from  her  heart  like  sand  from  an 
hour-glass.  To  compel  one's  self  to  nourish  ill- 


120  THE  GOVERNOR 

will  is  harder  than  to  catch  wind  with  a  fishing- 
net. 

So  she  played  two  notes  on  the  string  that  was 
called  Runow,  and  Simen  responded  with  a 
thousand,  and  she  added  a  greeting  to  the  letter. 

Another  year  Simen  begged  for  permission 
to  go  to  Runow  and  to  find  out  whether  he  were 
happy  and  how  he  ruled  the  island  and  his  own 
mind. 

When  he  returned  home  he  talked  ceaselessly 
to  her  of  all  that  he  had  seen  and  heard,  only 
keeping  silence  with  regard  to  Kaina;  why,  he 
himself  did  not  know. 

He  must  describe  the  appearance  of  the  island 
and  the  steep  dunes,  that,  like  pointed  battle- 
ments, shielded  it  against  the  fury  of  the  sea.  He 
must  describe  Klitgaard  and  the  green  elm-trees. 

Still  a  winter  passed  and  yet  another. 


East  of  Klitgaard  lay  two  grey  huts  like  float- 
ing hillocks  of  sea-weed.  In  one  of  them  lived 
Arnlys  of  Iceland  with  Gefen;  but  Gefen  was 
dull  and  heavy,  whilst  her  blood  was  like  the  hot 
geysers  of  her  native  isle.  Hot  and  hasty  she 
was  and  his  stupid  laziness  disgusted  her.  That 
she  might  not  continually  breathe  the  same  air 
as  him  she  made  a  hole  in  the  roof  of  the  hut 
and  one  in  the  wall,  and  when  she  did  not  lie 
looking  up  to  the  free  sky  she  lay  by  the  hole  in 
the  wall  and  peeped  out  towards  Tarben's  hut 

The  five  children  mocked  at  the  grumbling 
father  and  hopped  like  lambs  about  the  lively 
mother.  She  lavished  caresses  upon  them  and 
kissed  their  ears,  and  rolled  about  in  the  sand 
with  them,  and  boiled  all  the  birds'  eggs  they 
found.  She  took  them  in  her  arms  and  played 
with  them. 

But  fourteen  paces  away  lay  the  hut  where 
Tarben  lived  with  his  gentle  Maja.  Maja  had 


121 


122  THE  GOVERNOR 

no  children,  and  whenever  she  heard  Arnlys' 
children  laughing  she  fretted  so  much  that  she 
withered  in  the  place  where  fresh  shoots  should 
have  sprung  out. 

Their  eyes  met  during  many  days  and  it  came 
about  that  Arnlys  and  Tarben  cared  only  to  live 
for  one  another.  But  Arnlys'  husband  and  Tar- 
ben's  wife  had  also  eyes,  and  these  must  be 
blinded. 

Tarben  was  fond  of  the  five  children  because 
they  made  Arnlys  gay  and  happy — and  they,  or 
the  eldest  of  them,  helped  to  urge  her  to  an  evil 
deed.  She  hesitated,  hoping  that  death  might 
remove  the  superfluous;  she  would  rather  have 
caressed  Tarben  with  hands  that  were  not  sticky 
with  blood.  But  Maja  became  pregnant,  and 
her  joy  awakened  a  wild  fury  in  Arnlys'  soul. 

If  Tarben  would  not  listen  to  her  she  would 
leave  the  country  and  return  to  Iceland  and 
never  see  him  again.  He  gave  way,  and  they 
agreed  that,  at  the  same  hour,  when  the  sun  was 
high  overhead,  they  would  do  the  deed  that 
would  leave  them  henceforth  in  peace  with  one 
another. 


THE  GOVERNOR  123 

Arnlys  enticed  Gefen  into  a  sack.  He  was  to 
try  whether  it  were  large  enough  to  creep  into 
in  the  cold  of  winter.  Laughingly  she  tied  the 
sack  over  his  head,  seized  the  mussel-knife  and 
stabbed  him  until  he  was  quiet. 

Tarben  heard  the  cries,  but  he  shrank  from 
killing  the  gentle  Maja  who  had  just  fallen  into 
her  noonday  sleep.  Still,  he  knew  what  Arnlys' 
vows  meant,  and  at  last  he  threw  himself  upon 
Maja  with  the  whole  weight  of  his  body. 

She  gasped  aloud  for  air,  but  he  did  not  move; 
then  there  was  a  rattling  in  her  throat,  and  he 
felt  how  Death  crept  over  her  body  from  her 
head  to  her  heels.  But  he  had  killed  two,  and 
Arnlys  only  one,  and  he  was  seized  with  terror. 

He  listened  for  Arnlys'  voice;  all  around  was 
silent,  in  the  hut,  beneath  the  sky,  even  the  sea 
was  still.  Maja  lay  there  with  open  mouth, 
there  was  no  trace  of  violence.  Somewhat 
soothed  he  stepped  to  the  door,  seeking  Arnlys, 
but  he  dared  not  take  the  fourteen  paces  to  her 
hut. 

Whenever  he  had  asked  her,  "What  shall 
we  do  with  the  bodies  afterwards?"  she  had 


124  THE  GOVERNOR 

answered,  "First  the  deed;  then  everything  will 
arrange  itself."  He  dared  not  cross  the  thres- 
hold and  he  dared  not  return  to  look  at  Maja's 
open  mouth. 

As  he  stood  there  in  the  silence,  Kaina  came 
creeping  through  the  heather.  A  butterfly  flew 
before  her  and  took  the  path  between  the  huts. 
Tarben  knew  Kaina  and  had  often  seen  her  by 
the  fires  when  there  was  singing  at  the  salt-pans 
south  of  Klitgaard.  Now  she  came  in  the  hour 
of  need  and  he  begged  her  to  run  across  to 
Arnlys'  hut,  but  not  to  enter  nor  to  look  through 
the  hole  in  the  wall,  only  to  call  Arnlys  to 
Tarben. 

She  pointed  with  one  finger  towards  Arnlys 
and  another  to  Tarben ;  she  had  understood. 

Over  by  the  hut  she  called,  "Arnlys  to  Tarben 
— Arnlys  to  Tarben!"  but  as  no  one  answered  she 
went  nearer,  sprang  upon  the  loose  pieces  of  turf, 
and  peeped  in.  But  before  Arnlys  could  call  to 
her  she  ran  away  frightened  and  screaming 
through  the  heather,  straight  to  Runow. 

Arnlys  had  at  that  moment  been  in  the  act  of 
smearing  the  lips  of  her  children  with  blood 


THE  GOVERNOR  125 

from  Gefen's  wounds  as  a  seal  of  silence  that 
must  never  be  broken.  And  as  there  was  no  ten- 
derness for  their  father  in  their  hearts  they  had 
looked  on  in  silence  and  without  blenching. 

Runow  was  not  inclined  to  go  himself  and  see 
whether  Kaina's  words  were  true,  but  he  sent 
the  bailiff's  man  and  the  constable,  and  a  third, 
Vige  Laem,  the  warder  of  the  prison,  who  hap- 
pened at  that  moment  to  be  guarding  a  vacant 
cell. 

Tarben  and  Arnlys  were  taken  in  the  midst 
of  their  love-making  and  before  even  the  bodies 
had  been  disposed  of. 


At  the  end  of  the  path  leading  southwards 
from  Klitgaard  lay  the  prison.  A  governor  who 
had  been  there  before  Runow's  time  had  been 
unwilling  to  have  his  children  disturbed  at  night 
by  the  clanking  of  the  chains  against  his  walls. 
Therefore,  he  had  built  a  prison-cell  at  his  own 
cost  and  had  it  well  secured  with  iron  and  tough 
oak.  A  man  could  stand  upright  in  it.  Three 
rings  were  fastened  to  the  walls,  to  each  was 
welded  a  chain.  If  many  thieves  or  perpetra- 
tors of  outrage  awaited  trial  together  they  were 
locked  into  the  dark  room  in  the  garret  at 
Klitgaard. 

Before  the  spy-holes  were  iron  bars,  red  with 
rust.  Any  one  might  spit  into  the  prisoner's 
eyes  and  vent  their  spleen  upon  him.  He  was 
in  no  way  protected.  There  was  a  spy-hole  to 
the  north,  one  to  the  south,  one  to  the  east,  and 
another  to  the  west.  If  chill  winds  were  blow- 
ing, the  prisoners  bent  double  in  their  chains 

126 
• 


THE  GOVERNOR  127 

and  let  them  blow  over  their  backs,  but  in  the 
cold  of  the  winter  days  the  ankle-rings  and  hand- 
irons  were  glowing  hot. 

The  warder,  at  this  time  Vige  Laem,  who  an- 
swered for  the  prisoners  with  his  life,  lived 
twenty  paces  away;  but  loved  his  bench  and  his 
hearth-fire  too  well  to  trouble  them,  save  that  he 
shortened  the  fetters  of  those  who  danced  and 
sprang  about  in  their  chains. 

Here  Arnlys  and  Tarben  were  shut  up.  Who- 
ever looked  through  the  spy-hole  by  day  saw 
them  always  eye  to  eye  and  lip  to  lip.  Arnlys 
sang  to  Tarben  whilst  outside  the  five  children 
howled  and  screamed  for  their  beloved  mother. 
But  Tarben  was  dearer  to  her  than  the  five.  She 
did  not  fear  hell,  for  she  knew  that  Tarben 
would  follow  her  through  death  and  judgment 
into  the  terrible  pains  of  damnation.  But  those 
who  were  ashamed  to  look  during  the  day,  and 
who  spied  at  night,  saw  worse.  And  Vige  Laem 
knew  it,  but  he  did  not  shorten  the  chains. 

The  case  was  so  clear  that  it  was  unnecessary 
to  postpone  it.  Any  attempt  to  obtain  grace 
from  the  chapter-house  was  superfluous. 


128  THE  GOVERNOR 

The  governor  of  Laeso  had  only  to  sign  the 
sentence  according  to  which  they  were  to  lose 
first  their  hands  and  then  their  heads.  If  it 
could  have  been  done  in  the  darkness  without 
his  knowledge,  without  his  presence,  he  would 
have  set  his  name  to  it  as  easily  as  he  snapped 
his  fingers  in  the  air,  but  when  once  the  verdict 
was  sealed  the  governor  must  himself  follow  the 
cart  to  the  place  of  execution,  himself  hear  the 
sentence  read,  and  see  the  axe  fall  with  his  own 
eyes. 

The  executioner  was  old,  and  his  hands 
trembled. 

Runow  could  not  readily  make  up  his  mind 
to  despatch  to  the  grey  kingdom  of  shadows  two 
people  who  burned  with  so  fierce  a  love  for  one 
another. 

He  took  the  pen  in  his  hand,  let  it  fall  again, 
and  stared  at  the  row  of  letters  until  they  danced 
and  swam  before  his  eyes.  From  the  black  lines 
of  the  parchment  he  saw  blood  filter  and  from 
the  corners  of  the  room  he  heard  the  cry  that 
would  be  stifled  ere  it  broke  from  the  throat. 
Once  more  he  took  the  pen  and  let  it  fall.  His 


THE  GOVERNOR  129 

fingers  were  limp  and  his  hand  as  thick  as  a 
sponge  full  of  water. 

In  addition  to  this  Arnlys'  children  came  day 
and  night  begging  beseechingly  for  the  life  of 
their  dear  mother.  He  could  hardly  rest  at 
night,  for  he  heard  their  despair  beneath  his 
walls,  and  heard  the  elder  children  trying  to 
comfort  the  little  ones.  But  justice  was  justice, 
and  even  lesser  crimes  were  atoned  for  with 
worse  punishments  than  this. 

Runow  took  the  paper  into  his  chamber. 
Here  sat  Kaina,  writing  on  a  tablet. 

He  sat  down  beside  her. 

"Kaina — lay  thy  hand  on  mine,  firmly,  with- 
out trembling,  and  now  at  once!" 

She  looked  up  at  him  without  understanding, 
but  she  did  as  she  was  bidden.  Then  he  wrote  his 
name. 

He  read  the  sentence  over  to  her  and  ex- 
plained what  she  could  not  understand  in  the 
language  of  the  law.  But  Kaina  continued  to 
look  at  her  hand,  and  then  she  hid  it  under  her 
neckerchief. 

On  the  evening  before  the  two  were  executed 


130  THE  GOVERNOR 

Runow  sent  to  ask  them  whether  they  had  any 
special  wish — for  he  hoped  that  Arnlys  would 
give  her  children  into  his  protection,  and  be- 
lieved that  she  would  desire  to  have  them  with 
her  during  her  last  night. 

But  Tarben  begged  that  he  and  Arnlys  might 
spend  it  without  their  fetters,  and  Arnlys  begged 
that  Tarben  might  be  executed  first,  and  that  she 
might  hold  his  head  in  her  hands  ere  it  was  cut 
off. 

Although  this  was  a  double  wish,  Runow 
granted  it,  and  he  sent  them  wine  by  Vige  Laem 
that  their  sleep  might  be  sound,  if  not  calm. 

But  when  the  morning  came  it  seemed  to  Tar- 
ben that  the  sun  was  white  and  the  whole  sky  red 
as  flowing  blood,  and  his  lips  grew  chilled  on 
Arnlys'  lips;  his  fingers  could  not  grasp  hers;  his 
arms  hung  limply  at  his  sides  and  his  head  sank 
on  his  breast.  He  had  to  be  carried  to  the  cart 
by  force,  but  Arnlys  lifted  him  out  in  her  strong 
arms.  Then  he  begged  in  senseless  terror  that 
Arnlys  might  be  executed  first  so  that  he  could 
gain  a  second  of  time. 

Then  her  courage,  too,  failed  her,  for  she  had 


THE  GOVERNOR  131 

believed  that  death  would  be  as  the  intoxicating 
passion  of  the  night.  But  she  would  not  be 
weak.  She  turned  her  eyes  away  from  him — 
now  she  heard  the  five  children  cry  and  wail. 
She  stopped  her  ears  with  her  fingers  until  the 
executioner  seized  her  arms  and  severed  them 
from  her  body. 

Runow  had  returned  home,  ill  at  ease,  with 
the  remembrance  of  Arnlys  and  Tarben,  and 
filled  with  remorse  at  the  thought  of  the  chil- 
dren who  were  now  wandering  homeless. 

From  the  watchman's  room  came  noisy  sing- 
ing, a  noble  carouse  was  in  progress  in  honour 
of  the  sinners'  journey  to  hell. 

Between  whiles  he  heard  the  windlass  of  the 
well  creak  and  creak  as  if  some  one  were  draw- 
ing up  water  without  cess,  but  old  Ture  was 
overhead  in  the  loft  turning  apples,  and  the  ser- 
vants were  sleeping  their  midday  sleep.  He 
went  to  see  what  it  was.  By  the  well  stood  Kaina, 
turning  the  heavy  windlass  so  that  her  face  was 
red  with  the  exertion.  Whenever  the  bucket 
rose  over  the  wall  of  the  well  she  tilted  it  over 
her  right  hand. 


132  THE  GOVERNOR 

Then  Runow  grew  angry.  He  got  out  through 
the  window  and  knocked  the  bucket  out  of  her 
hand,  so  that  it  fell  from  the  hook  and  into  the 
well.  He  pulled  her  in  by  the  wrist;  she  must 
answer  his  questions,  and  tell  him  what  was  evil 
in  a  just  sentence  and  why  she  was  behaving  like 
a  woman  in  labour. 

But  Kaina  could  say  nothing.  The  cold, 
damp  hands  were  tightly  folded  and  the  water 
dripped  down  from  her  clothes.  Runow  left 
her  standing  there  and  went  out  himself. 

So  she  was  rebellious  and  self-righteous  and 
would  not  comprehend — or  was  it  that  she 
lacked  understanding?  She  should  not  make 
mock  of  him  before  every  one — rather  than  that 
he  would  remain  alone.  Aye,  far  rather! 

He  went  to  Germund's  hut  and  arranged  with 
him  and  old  Idel  that  they  should  take  Kaina  to 
live  with  them  now  that  she  was  a  maiden  and 
could  scarcely  continue  to  dwell  under  his  roof 
without  awakening  remark.  They  agreed  will- 
ingly, and  it  was  settled  that  it  would  be  best  to 
wait  a  month  that  she  might  prepare  herself  for 
the  change. 


THE  GOVERNOR  133 

So  the  matter  was  arranged,  but  immediately 
after  Runow  regretted  it.  He  should  have  acted 
with  forbearance  and  not  in  violent  anger.  She 
was  soft  as  the  lightest  breath  of  air.  It  was  not 
she  who  would  tempt  him.  In  her  veins  flowed 
no  fire.  And  in  all  the  wide  world  she  had  only 
him  and  him  alone. 

But  now  he  had  spoken  with  Germund  and 
it  was  best  that  Kaina  should  know  of  it  at  once. 

The  door  of  her  chamber  was  fastened.  Yes, 
that  he  knew.  Yet  never  did  the  darkness  fall 
but  he  stood  before  it,  begging  her  to  tell  him 
if  she  were  still  angry.  And  never  did  she  shoot 
back  the  bolt,  but  he  took  her  in  his  arms  and 
held  her  there  and  would  not  let  her  go. 


Ture,  the  old  gnarled  fellow  who,  whilst  the 
winter  lasted,  went  in  and  out  of  all  the  rooms 
at  Klitgaard  with  wood  and  bellows,  had  seen  a 
good  deal. 

True,  the  huzzy  was  no  longer  in  the  house, 
but  in  the  snow  before  the  turret-door  he  found 
her  footprints,  and  also  in  the  freshly-strewn 
sand  of  the  Governor's  chamber. 

But  if  any  one  asked  him  what  he  had  seen, 
were  it  watchman  or  common  folk,  his  mouth 
was  closed  with  two-inch  spikes.  Calmly  he 
smoothed  the  bed  and  sniffed  at  the  red  cushion 
that  smelled  of  sweet  musk. 

Yet  he  heard  well  enough  how  the  pair  passed, 
with  chatter  and  talk,  those  hours  which  the 
Lord  Himself  had  measured  out  for  deep  and 
snoring  slumber.  For  Ture  lay  in  the  loft  over 
the  room,  and  if  the  trap-door  stood  open  to  the 
sky  he  heard  words  and  sounds  of  love  as  well. 

It  was  easy  enough  to  see  that  the  huzzy  came 

134 


THE  GOVERNOR  135 

from  the  ends  of  the  earth  whither  sailed  the 
masted  ships,  for  she  talked  of  the  stars  as  if  they 
were  beasts  with  wings,  or  other  ungodly  human 
shapes. 

Once  it  happened  that  he  stretched  his  head 
over  the  edge  of  the  trap-door,  and  then  he  saw 
the  huzzy  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  floor, 
weeping  in  the  moonlight  as  if  her  nose  were 
smeared  with  onions — but  the  governor  kneeled 
before  her  on  his  bare  knees  and  prayed  to  her 
as  the  pastor  prayed  before  the  altar  on  high  fes- 
tivals. Luckily  Ture  drew  back  his  head  before 
either  of  them  had  become  aware  of  it,  and 
thenceforth  he  sprinkled  whey  plentifully  before 
the  bed  that  the  magic  which  no  doubt  hung 
about  the  huzzy  might  not  harm  his  gracious 
master. 

Only  to  Arnlys'  children  did  he  communicate 
something  of  his  knowledge. 

In  the  hut  of  Germund,  the  net-weaver,  Kaina 
sat  awaiting  the  last  hours  of  the  day  that  it 
might  soon  be  evening  and  night.  The  sun  might 
more  easily  penetrate  closed  eyelids  than  the 
hole  in  the  roof  that  Germund  had  stopped  with 


136  THE  GOVERNOR 

skins  against  wind  and  weather.  The  room  was 
filled  with  smoke. 

But  Kaina  did  not  look  for  the  sun.  Her  eyes 
sought  the  floor  where  Germund's  feet  moved 
like  wounded  beasts  amongst  the  ashes,  and 
where  his  nets  lay  strewn  about.  He  knotted 
them  peacefully  whilst  he  shivered  with  cold, 
for  he  was  blind  as  the  hen  upon  his  right  shoul- 
der. But  Idel  turned  the  spinning-wheel  and 
span.  The  threads  broke  more  easily  than  her 
speech.  As  she  chattered  her  loose  tusks  rattled 
like  the  shuttle  of  the  weaving-stool.  Now  and 
then  she  pushed  the  glowing  peat  with  her  foot 
so  that  it  flamed  up  and  sent  the  ashes  flying  high 
over  the  soup-kettle. 

Under  the  beams  of  the  roof  hanging  fish  blew 
hither  and  thither  in  every  draught,  like  linen 
on  a  bleaching-line. 

If  Germund's  fumbling  fingers  could  not 
loosen  the  knots  of  the  yarn  he  gave  it  to  Kaina, 
who  unfastened  them  without  a  word.  And  Idel 
made  her  hold  the  mug  out  of  which  Germund 
sipped  his  beer,  and  she  had  to  free  the  fish  from 


THE  GOVERNOR  137 

bones  and  gills  before  Germund's  toothless  jaws 
crushed  them. 

At  the  sixth  hour  after  noon  the  old  people 
crept  beneath  the  skins  under  which  Kaina  laid 
a  little  sack  of  herbs  to  ward  off  pains ;  she  placed 
the  cat  against  the  soles  of  Germund's  feet  to 
keep  the  warmth  in  them,  and  set  the  hen  upon 
the  pillow.  Then  she  raked  the  ashes  over  the 
embers  and  sat  awaiting  the  hour  when  Runow 
would  knock  upon  the  beams  and  summon  her 
to  him. 

Her  thoughts  left  her  no  rest.  The  nights 
seemed  endless  when  Runow  did  not  call  her, 
and  she  believed  that  the  day  would  never  come. 
To  him  she  was  a  coaxing  kitten  with  soft  paws 
and  sharp  claws,  so  charmingly  wild  that  no 
reason  could  bridle  her,  yet  obedient  and  tender. 
Away  from  him  she  felt  nothing  but  fear.  It 
was  awakening  jealousy. 

Runow  had  so  often  murmured  Brigitte's 
name  in  his  dreams  that  Kaina  at  length  asked 
him  what  it  was,  and  he  swore  that  it  was  a 
flower  in  the  woods  of  Lunegaard  far  away  from 
Laeso. 


138  THE  GOVERNOR 

She  was  silent  for  a  while,  but  then  asked 
again.  Her  examination  became  a  torment.  He 
must  ever  be  careful  and  on  his  guard  against 
the  questions  over  which  she  brooded  night  after 
night. 

Soon  she  no  longer  spent  her  days  in  Ger- 
mund's  hut.  Runow  felt  himself  unsafe.  From 
behind,  from  before,  she  came  creeping  upon 
him,  always  meek  and  always  sad.  She  tracked 
his  path — he  could  only  move  in  the  circle  that 
her  watchfulness  drew  about  him. 

When  she  shut  her  eyes  she  could  see  all  that 
her  mind  desired,  all  that  she  had  known  and 
lived  through  with  her  mother  long  ago.  What 
did  Runow  see  when  he  closed  his?  What  did 
his  dreams  whisper  to  him?  with  what  were  his 
thoughts  occupied  during  the  hours  that  she 
spent  in  Germund's  hut? 

But  she  could  not  look  into  his  heart.  Between 
his  soul  and  hers  was  an  abyss  that  sensual  love 
could  never  bridge  over. 


During  all  this  time  Jacob  was  earning  bread 
and  fame  in  the  city  of  Bremen.  He  lived  in 
the  house  of  the  baker,  Johann  Nimmergut,  in 
the  Trinnengasse,  in  an  attic  wherein  black 
meal-dust  flew  about  amongst  cockroaches  and 
crickets.  The  apprentices  stamped  up  and  down 
in  the  sticky  dough,  coughing  and  cursing;  the 
housewife  scolded  in  the  kitchen  below,  the  rats 
fought  in  the  gutter.  If  there  were  an  interval 
of  silence  one  heard  the  death-watch  ticking  in 
the  wall. 

But  to  Jacob  all  this  was  as  it  should  be.  The 
world  was  nothing  but  misery,  he  himself  was 
miserable. 

He  carefully  stopped  all  the  holes  in  the  walls 
with  cotton-wool  and  rags  to  secure  himself  from 
curious  eyes. 

Under  the  bull's-eye  window  stood  a  trunk 
covered  with  red  leather,  and  with  a  heavy  lock. 

It  came  from  Seven-Isles.     Here  he  would  sit 

139 


140  THE  GOVERNOR 

in  his  hours  of  idleness,  looking  over  the  wall  at 
the  brothers  in  the  garden  of  the  cloister 
opposite. 

Brown  cowls  flapped  against  their  thin  legs, 
the  lean,  restless  hands  clasped  fat  breviaries. 
In  bodily  misery,  in  mental  anguish,  they  went 
about  with  whining  lip?  and  long  faces — their 
mournful  eyes  glanced  after  every  cloud,  after 
every  leaf  that  the  wind  carried  over  to  them. 
Others  shovelled  earth  about  the  vegetables  in 
the  garden,  bowed  their  necks  and  rooted  up  the 
weeds  that  the  sun  had  brought  forth.  The 
garden-paths  were  worn  smooth  as  mirrors  by 
their  dragging  feet. 

At  the  end  of  the  garden  was  the  back  of  a 
house  which  the  cloister,  although  it  offered  a 
high  price,  had  not  been  able  to  purchase.  Here 
lived  three  stout  women  who  jested  and  laughed 
all  day  and  all  night.  But  when  the  brothers  ap- 
proached the  walls  their  steps  faltered  and  they 
clasped  their  breviaries  more  firmly. 

When  Jacob  had  looked  until  he  was  tired  he 
would  open  the  fat-bellied  trunk  and  shake  out 
the  few  treasures  of  clothes,  weapons,  and  bright 


THE  GOVERNOR  141 

ribbons  that  he  had  collected.  But  he  first  of  all 
shot  the  bolt  of  the  door  and  the  shutter  of  the 
bull's-eye,  and  lighted  a  candle. 

Then  he  would  adorn  himself  with  one  jerkin 
over  another,  chains  and  sashes  in  all  directions, 
and  rings  on  all  his  five  fingers.  In  this  array  he 
puffed  himself  out  like  a  great  peacock.  No 
maiden  loved  her  white  skin  so  well  as  he  loved 
the  finery  that  helped  him  to  hide  his  body.  His 
senses  glowed  whenever  his  hand  touched  vel- 
vet, or  the  precious  stones  of  his  scabbard  shone 
before  his  eyes. 

Yet  he  thought  with  shame  of  the  early  years 
at  Utrecht  when  he  had  decked  himself  out  with 
every  checquered  silk  that  he  could  get  hold  of, 
and  made  himself  the  butt  of  all  and  especially 
of  Runow. 

Since  then  he  had  grown  to  understand  that 
fine  clothes  only  fit  straight  bodies,  and  he 
adorned  himself  merely  for  his  own  benefit  when 
he  was  alone.  But  there  in  Johann  Nimmer- 
gut's  chamber  he  danced  French  dances  with  im- 
aginary ladies,  kneeled  in  the  dust  before  them 
and  offered  them  incense — then  he  would  brush 


142  THE  GOVERNOR 

the  dust  from  his  costly  clothes,  pick  off  straws 
and  flakes,  and  dress  himself  once  more  in  his 
black,  worn-out  mantle. 

He  knew  his  own  crooked  shadow. 

Johann  Nimmergut  gave  him  as  much  bread 
as  he  could  eat,  and  the  apprentices  procured 
for  him  the  brew  of  the  house  and  milk,  because 
he  lanced  their  abscesses  and  his  presence  in  the 
house  was  an  honour.  The  half  of  his  income 
he  gave  to  the  old  people  of  the  town  and  the 
hospitals  for  poor,  illegitimate  children. 

Thus  did  Jacob. 

And  he  saved  and  economized  as  if  he  had 
been  van  Devil's  own  son.  All  that  he  earned 
of  gold  and  clinking  coin  he  divided  into  two 
parts;  for  the  one  he  purchased  favour  and  good 
repute,  the  other  he  hid  away  in  his  trunk. 

Kind  words  and  friendly  treatment  were  a 
necessity  of  life  to  him,  he  himself  was  a  spend- 
thrift in  them. 

But  to  what  end  he  saved  he  did  not  know.  It 
seemed  to  him  that  gold  possessed  a  power  like 
healthy  life-blood,  and  that  some  day  it  would 
double  the  strength  of  his  years. 


THE  GOVERNOR  143 

He  would  remain  with  a  dying  man  through- 
out whole  nights,  and  murmur  heavenly  prayers 
with  him.  He  could  seem  contented  when  the 
air  of  the  sick-room  was  thick  with  suffocating 
odours.  He  did  not  know  impatience.  He  wept 
with  those  whose  tears  flowed  and  laughed  with 
the  happy. 

No  woman  was  able  to  torment  him.  For 
Runow  alone  dwelt  in  his  heart,  and  only  Ru- 
now.  He  permitted  him  everything  and 
grudged  him  everything.  If  Runow  were  glad 
he  hated  the  cause  of  this  gladness  because  it 
was  not  himself. 

Old  Simen  was  fond  of  him  and  wrote  often 
of  what  had  taken  place  and  of  his  hopes.  Thus 
Jacob  knew  that  Brigitte  had  brooded  over  her 
anger,  and  that  Runow  was  caged  like  a  beast  on 
sandy  Laeso.  But  no  one  summoned  him — no 
one  wanted  him. 

Many  a  good  goose-quill  did  he  break  in  writ- 
ing to  Simen.  At  one  moment  he  looked  down 
upon  him  in  contempt  because  he  ate  Brigitte's 
bread  of  charity,  at  another  he  praised  and 
blessed  him  for  every  kind  word  and  every  scrap 


144  THE  GOVERNOR 

of  news  from  Liinegaard  and  Laeso;  at  one  mo- 
ment he  boasted  and  showed  off,  at  another  he 
was  tender  as  a  child,  and  again  so  shameless 
that  Simen  washed  the  hands  that  had  touched 
so  uncleanly  a  letter. 

But  when  Simen  had  visited  Runow  at  Laeso 
and  there  heard  only  friendly  words  concerning 
Jacob  he  wrote  at  once  to  tell  him  so,  and  Jacob's 
fingers  grew  moist. 

If  there  were  any  possibility  that  Runow 
would  receive  him  under  his  roof  he  certainly 
would  not  hesitate,  but  would  quit  Bremen  in- 
stantly. He  considered  for  a  long  time  how  he 
should  act,  and  months  passed  before  he  made 
up  his  mind  to  write  to  Runow.  The  letter  was 
written  cunningly  and  cleverly,  composed  of 
memories  of  childhood.  He  did  not  mention 
Brigitte,  but  only  begged  that  Runow  would 
allow  him,  as  his  faithful  brother,  to  tread  the 
same  soil  and  breathe  the  same  air  as  himself. 
The  answer  soon  came  back. 

"For  God's  sake,  come,  dear  brother,  and  share 
my  days.  I  have  forgotten  what  has  been  before. 


THE  GOVERNOR  145 

The  present  is  nothing.  Nothing  can  happen. 
I  am  weary,  weary." 

At  the  end  of  the  letter  was  written,  "A 
stranded  sailor  was  thrown  upon  a  desert  island. 
He  trained  up  an  ape,  for  he  longed  for  a  com- 
panion. He  dressed  it  as  a  man  and  tried  to 
teach  it  to  speak.  Thus  did  I,  but  the  ape  did 
not  learn  to  speak,  and  I  am  alone  on  the  desert 
island." 

Jacob  had  five  new  iron  bands  set  on  the  trunk 
from  Seven-Isles,  occupied  himself  for  five  days 
in  collecting  the  money  that  the  citizens  owed 
him,  and  then  travelled  northwards.  At  Flad- 
strand  he  hired  a  boat  to  himself  that  not  a  day 
nor  an  hour  might  be  wasted.  He  pomaded  his 
hair  with  scented  oil  and  adorned  himself  like 
a  bride  who  goes  to  meet  her  bridegroom. 

Close  by  Laeso  he  looked  over  the  edge  of  the 
ship  down  into  the  mirror  of  the  water  and  saw 
his  crooked  shadow;  angrily  he  tore  the  fine 
clothes  from  his  body,  threw  them  into  the  water, 
and  once  more  put  on  his  mantle.  The  sailors 
thought  him  mad  that  he  should  throw  into  the 
sea  gold-embroidered  festal  garments. 


146  THE  GOVERNOR 

He  met  Runow  whilst  he  was  still  far  from 
Klitgaard.  The  brothers  kissed  each  other  ir 
greeting. 

And  they  talked  together  without  cess,  for 
there  was  something  that  neither  would  speak 
of,  and  yet  in  the  first  pause  it  must  be  named. 

Runow  showed  Jacob  the  wood  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  island,  the  salt-pans  in  the  south- 
hidden  in  thick  smoke — showed  him  the  seven 
stout  elms  that  grew  on  the  unfruitful  soil,  and 
in  the  west  the  strip  of  green  grass  with  three 
lean  cows,  and  the  dyke  that  surrounded  Klit- 
gaard, high  in  parts  and  low  in  others. 

Jacob  asked  whether  the  women  of  the  island 
were  pleasing.  Runow  answered  that  they  were 
pale  as  sand-grass  and  full  of  freckles  as  a 

flounder. 

******** 

Kaina  sat  in  the  hut  in  restless  longing.  Then 
one  evening  she  went,  of  her  own  accord,  to 
Klitgaard  and  crept  through  the  turret-door  into 
the  house.  Runow  heard  her  and  came  out 
Alarmed,  he  thrust  her  into  the  back  chamber 
where  he  was  wont  to  do  his  accounts. 


THE  GOVERNOR  147 

Thence  she  heard  him  talking  to  a  stranger 
with  tender  words,  and  heard  them  call  each 
other  "brother." 

All  became  silent.  For  a  long  while  she  stood 
alone,  forgotten.  In  the  middle  of  the  night  she 
ventured  to  open  the  door.  She  heard  double 
breathing  from  Runow's  bed  and  from  her  own 
little  one.  Then  she  rushed  to  the  railing  and 
woke  Runow  out  of  his  sleep. 

Runow  passed  his  hand  over  his  brow.  He 
had  forgotten  Kaina  now  that  his  dear  brother 
was  come  and  slept  in  her  bed.  But  Kaina  must 
remain  with  Germund  until  he  summoned  her. 

Runow  was  weary  and  fell  asleep  as  they 
chatted. 

There  was  much  talk  about  the  brother.  I  del 
could  not  cease  speaking  of  him.  He  took  out 
blind  people's  eyes  and  stuck  balls  of  fat  in  their 
places  that  looked  just  like  eyes.  He  stroked 
lame  women  under  their  knee-joints  so  that  they 
sprang  about  like  hares  over  ploughed  fields — 
aye,  when  Gunild  Kaefer  got  an  ulcer  that 
burned  like  hell  he  blew  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle  on  to  it,  and  Gunild  was  cured  in  the  same 


148  THE  GOVERNOR 

moment.  He  spoke  as  softly  as  a  mouse.  And 
he  kept  all  his  secret  art  in  his  hump-back. 

But  Kaina  hated  the  brother,  and  when  he  en- 
tered the  hut  and  began  to  chat  she  took  on  a  sour 
and  obstinate  look  and  would  not  say  a  word. 

He  was  repugnant  to  her,  simply  repugnant. 


Simen  had  warned  Runow  that  Brigitte  would 
come  some  day — and  since  then  he  had  watched 
every  east  wind  lest  it  should  bring  her. 

There  were  still  moments  when  he  loved 
Kaina  dearly,  but  even  in  her  arms  he  felt  no  rest, 
he  was  forced  to  listen  for  Brigitte's  coming. 
And  his  longing  was  so  great  that  he  could  not 
lock  it  up  in  his  own  heart. 

Then  he  told  Kaina  about  Brigitte. 

During  whole  nights  he  would  speak  of  her, 
and  Kaina  begged  him  not  to  be  silent.  Only 
she  wondered  why  she  felt  so  tired  and  so  cold. 
She  murmured  his  words  after  him. 

Idel  had  seen  by  her  breasts  that  she  was  preg- 
nant, but  Runow  felt  no  joy  over  the  news  and 
soon  forgot  it. 

Now  at  last  Kaina  understood  that  she  was  not 
wanted,  and  she  hid  herself  in  the  hut  with  Ger- 
mund  and  Idel. 

Often  she  asked  whether  it  hurt  to  die,  and 
149 


150  THE  GOVERNOR 

whether  death  came  in  the  day  or  in  the  night. 
Or  she  asked  whether  souls  could  die.  "For  my 
soul  is  so  sick,  so  sickl" 

But  no  one  must  speak  Runow's  name,  she  kept 
it  off  with  both  her  hands. 

That  name  should  be  surrounded  with  silence, 
utter  silence.  She  feared  lest  her  mournful 
thoughts  should  twine  themselves  about  him  and 
injure  him.  She  wept  no  more  now. 

She  who  was  named  Brigitte  had  always  dwelt 
in  his  heart.  Now  she  knew  that  it  was  so. 

But  if  Runow  came  at  times  to  the  hut  and 
summoned  her  out,  she  had  to  follow  him,  how- 
ever much  it  hurt  her.  Afterwards  she  wiped 
her  lips — he  had  thought  of  Brigitte,  his  caresses 
should  be  effaced. 

And   in   her   body   dwelled   the   new   little 

existence. 

******** 

Kaina  fled  from  Germund's  hut.  In  the  sand- 
hollow  under  the  bell,  by  the  ruins  of  the  church, 
she  hid  herself  until  the  child  should  be  born. 

Hither  there  came  no  light  or  sound  from  the 
world.  Her  body  rested  in  a  waking  sleep,  she 


THE  GOVERNOR  151 

felt  no  pain  and  no  joy.  The  whole  day  long 
she  sat  and  scratched  with  her  nail  on  the  metal 
so  that  it  sang. 

Sometimes  she  was  seized  with  longing  to 
wander  on  until  she  found  the  great  river  and 
eternal  peace;  but  she  was  too  weary.  If  at 
night  she  left  the  hollow  to  look  at  the  stars,  her 
eyes  began  to  shed  tears.  The  cry  of  the  wild 
birds  of  prey  filled  the  darkness,  and  they  struck 
her  face  with  their  hard  wings.  Then  she  be- 
came aware  of  her  sick  soul  and  crept  once  more 
under  the  bell. 

Daily,  at  the  hour  of  twilight,  two  careful 
hands  thrust  under  the  bell  a  bowl  of  food.  They 
were  not  Idel's  withered  hands,  nor  Runow's — 
she  would  have  known  these  by  their  perfume — 
they  were  two  hands  that  did  not  seek  hers,  but 
drew  back  noiselessly,  to  come  again  at  the  fol- 
lowing twilight  hour.  Once  it  happened  that 
they  touched  her  face,  and  a  perfume  came  to 
her  that  was  like  the  smell  of  crushed  willow- 
boughs.  Food  was  distasteful  to  her,  yet  if  she 
left  it  uneaten  the  child  in  her  womb  became 


152  THE  GOVERNOR 

restless,  and  its  little  hands  seemed  to  press  upon 
her  heart. 

It  must  be  Idel  who  sent  the  food,  for  no  one 
but  Idel  knew  that  she  was  in  the  sand-hollow. 
Idel  had  herself  advised  Kaina  to  fly.  For  it  had 
come  about  that  Germund's  hut  resembled  an 
open  field  where  people  came  and  went  without 
seeking  anything,  but  only  to  gather  about  Kaina 
and  see  the  condition  of  her  body,  and  to  mock 
at  her. 

Therefore  she  had  fled — to  find  peace. 


When  once  Brigitte  had  formed  her  resolution 
she  no  longer  hesitated.  Time  will  fly,  death 
will  bring  counsel,  she  thought,  and  plucked  out 
the  white  hairs  that  had  grown  since  she  last  saw 
Runow.  Every  little  pain  it  gave  was  sweet  to 
her.  When  her  hair  had  resumed  its  colour  once 
more  it  seemed  to  her  that  she  had  won  back  the 
years. 

She  plucked  all  the  climbing  roses  of  the  gar- 
den and  shook  them  into  her  bath,  and  called 
herself  a  fool  for  having  waited  so  long.  And 
as  she  lay  in  her  bath  she  summoned  her  waiting- 
women  and  bade  them  pluck  jasmin  and  lilies — 
for  now  time  and  anger  and  longing  were  ban- 
ished from  body  and  thoughts. 

And  she  asked,  "Could  you  tell  from  my  skin 
that  as  many  years  have  passed  over  me  as  there 
are  weeks  between  Trinity  and  Advent?" 

Only   two   coachmen   conducted   her   across 

Jutland. 

153 


154  THE  GOVERNOR 

She  was  shaken  over  the  hard  hollows  of  the 
hills,  and  over  the  rough  stones  of  the  roads,  she 
was  shaken  up  there  in  the  north  where  the 
wheels  sank  into  the  soil  and  the  country  resem- 
bled a  church-yard  of  sand-hillocks.  But  she 
lay  in  her  carriage,  sang  to  herself,  and  laughed 
until  the  tears  stood  in  her  eyes,  and  chattered 
as  if  she  were  talking  with  Runow.  Often  she 
slept  and  laughed  in  her  sleep.  If  they  passed 
a  stream  she  must  descend  and  drink  out  of  the 
hollow  of  her  hand.  In  the  carriage  she  looked 
at  her  face  in  a  mirror  at  every  moment. 

For  a  while  she  was  sick  during  that  rough 
journey  to  Laeso-land;  but  when  she  reached  it 
she  was  as  sound  as  ever,  and  left  her  men  behind 
her  and  would  find  the  way  alone.  It  mattered 
not  how  far  she  might  have  to  go.  Her  blood 
would  run,  her  heart  beat,  her  soul  long  and  her 
foot  tread  until  she  came  to  Runow. 

The  land  seemed  strange  to  her  eyes.  No 
boundaries  cut  it  into  fields,  no  road  bordered 
with  poplars  wound  along  from  north  to  south ; 
nothing  separated  the  good  from  the  bad  soil. 
The  sand  moved  under  her  feet  like  ants,  it  was 


THE  GOVERNOR  155 

hard  to  walk.  The  wiry  heather  wound  itself 
about  her  ankles  and  held  fast  the  fur-edged  hem 
of  her  robe. 

Strong  and  yet  soft  did  she  become  at  sight  of 
the  empty  flats.  It  was  hot  under  the  glowing 
twilit  sky,  where  day  and  night  were  struggling 
together,  where  the  last  rays  of  the  sun  flamed, 
and  over  which  the  shadows  crept — so  hot  that 
she  loosened  her  hood  and  let  her  hair  stream 
about  her. 

The  clasp  hung  down  from  her  waist  and 
knocked  with  a  ringing  sound  against  her  knees 
as  she  went.  She  was  not  in  the  habit  of  wearing 
jewels,  but  for  this  meeting  with  Runow  she  had 
adorned  herself  with  the  bridal-gold  of  Mistress 
Merthe  Bolle.  She  longed  for  him;  it  did  not 
occur  to  her  that  there  might  be  any  obstacle  in 
the  way. 

Here  on  the  storm-beaten  island  day  after  day 
would  fly  past — but  the  nights  should  be  long 
winter  nights,  every  one  of  them. 

She  knew  that  there  existed  women  who,  in 
morbid  longing,  kiss  their  lips  sore  on  the  greedy 


156  THE  GOVERNOR 

mouths  of  many  men — but  this  she  did  not  un- 
derstand.   Only  Runow,  only  the  one,  only  him. 

She  paused  where  she  was  and  cried  her  hope 
into  the  twilight  like  a  powerful  bird  that  feels 
the  pressure  of  the  air  beneath  its  wings. 

Whether  the  sea  closed  over  her,  whether  the 
sky  fell  upon  her,  strewing  over  her  its  burning 
stars — nothing  could  assail  her  under  Runow's 
care.  For  his  pleasure  was  her  body  formed— 
she  laughed  and  thought  of  her  industry  at  the 
embroidery-frame. 

Soon  she  was  no  longer  alone.  Figures  rose 
about  her.  Like  the  dead  from  their  graves  they 
rose  from  the  earth,  the  ugly,  grey  people.  They 
made  their  way  through  the  heather  with  awk- 
ward gait  and  hanging  heads.  They  exchanged 
no  intelligible  words  with  one  another,  but  men, 
women,  and  children  bleated,  bellowed  and 
gaped.  Not  one  lifted  his  brow  to  be  blessed  by 
the  last  rays  of  the  sun,  or  turned  to  watch  the 
darkness  of  night  that  raced  upon  them  from  the 
east. 

Brigitte  went  on  her  uncertain  way  with  con- 
fident steps.  She  was  hungry.  The  darkness 


THE  GOVERNOR  157 

lay  thick  over  the  island,  the  roll  of  the  sea  came 
to  her  ears,  high  trees  sighed.  The  sharp  sickle 
of  the  moon  mowed  through  the  clouds  that  were 
white  as  cotton-grass. 

She  passed  by  low  huts  from  which  the  fetid 
odour  oozed  out  through  plank  and  beam.  She 
stumbled  against  a  willow-stump  and  stood  right 
in  front  of  the  edge  of  the  wood.  The  ground 
was  damp  and  a  strong  smell  smote  her  nostrils. 

She  turned  and  approached  one  of  the  huts. 
The  latch  shone,  white  smoke  rose  from  the  turf- 
roof.  She  heard  distinctly  the  breathing  of  two 
people.  It  was  Germund's  hut. 

Late  in  the  night  she  reached  Klitgaard, 
counted  the  windows,  the  clay-holes,  and  the 
thick-boled  elms. 

She  pushed  the  door  open  and  went  through 
all  the  rooms  until  she  found  Runow. 

Brigitte  had  followed  her  longing  until  she 
had  reached  her  goal. 

Runow  might  have  spared  himself  all  words 
of  remorse,  she  cared  not  a  whit  for  them.  The 
blood  sang  in  her  veins  and  she  heard  only  that. 

They  awoke  at  noon.    Their  hands  had  rested 


158  THE  GOVERNOR 

in  each  other's.  Old  Ture  stared  at  them  out  of 
a  corner.  The  sun  was  high  above  Klitgaard — 
and  the  fine  clothes  were  strewed  about  all  over 
the  room. 

But  Brigitte  begged  for  fried  bacon,  she  called 
from  the  bed  that  she  was  nearly  dead  with  hun- 
ger. Then  Ture  crept  away. 

The  whole  day  long  Runow  rubbed  his  eyes 
and  looked  at  Brigitte.  She  was  there.  Her 
laughter  tickled  his  ears  whether  she  spoke  of 
sad  or  joyful  things. 

Jacob  could  not  understand  their  joy.  He  said 
that,  as  the  marriage  had  been  declared  null  and 
void,  the  matter  must  first  be  put  right. 

Aye,  that  was  worth  while!  Her  three  uncles 
Lindenow,  each  bonier  and  more  disagreeable 
than  the  other,  must  first  be  won  over,  for  they 
were  her  guardians.  Then  the  king,  who  had 
enough  to  do  with  his  kingdom,  and  then  the 
church  and  all  the  clergy. 

"Thou  art  stupid,  Jacob,  stupid,  and  not  at  all 
sensible — see  here!"  She  drew  out  the  decree  of 
invalidity,  struck  fire  with  flint  and  tinder-box 
and  held  the  writing  to  it. 


THE  GOVERNOR  159 

"Thy  right  hand,  my  husband!"  Runow 
stretched  it  out,  uncertain  what  was  about  to 
happen. 

Swiftly  she  pressed  the  burning  paper  together 
and  laid  it  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand. 

She  seized  his  wrist  and  held  it  fast.  The  wax 
melted  in  the  palm,  the  letter  burned  to  ashes. 
Runow  would  have  cried  out,  but  he  controlled 
himself.  Directly  after  he  went  out  and  plunged 
the  hand  into  cold  water — Brigitte  saw  it  from 
the  window. 

They  finally  agreed  to  follow  Jacob's  advice, 
which  was  good  and  sound.  When  the  wind 
changed  again  Brigitte  should  return  to  Liine- 
gaard,  and  go  to  her  kinsmen  and  to  the  king  to 
arrange  for  another  marriage.  For  if  she  re- 
mained with  Runow  without  this  it  might  injure 
him  and  still  more  his  children. 

Runow  would  have  preferred  to  bid  farewell 
to  his  office  and  to  the  island,  and  to  have  gone 
with  her  at  once,  but  she  would  not  hear  of  it. 

For  seven  years  he  had  lived  there  quite  alone, 
for  seven  years  she  would  share  with  him  the 


160  THE  GOVERNOR 

stillness  of  the  island,  then  they  would  live  at 
Liinegaard  for  the  rest  of  their  lives. 

She  scarcely  thought  to  return  before  the 
spring,  for  her  mission  would  occupy  time;  be- 
sides, Simen  must  have  her  counsel  as  to  the 
manor  and  the  crops  for  the  coming  year. 


As  many  candles  shone  at  Klitgaard  as  the 
tables  had  spikes  to  fasten  them  on  and  the  walls 
holders  to  thrust  them  into.  The  wind  had 
changed  and  to-morrow  Brigitte  was  to  start  out. 

Now  she  was  in  haste  to  get  away.  She  showed 
them,  laughingly,  how  lightly  she  could  turn  her 
tongue  to  a  hundred  different  tones  and  manners 
of  speech.  Each  of  the  crabbed  kinsmen  must 
be  won  over  by  every  means  in  her  power, 
by  coaxing,  by  coldness,  by  cunning,  by  presents. 
Everything  should  go  smoothly  and  well. 

Meanwhile,  she  sat  beside  Runow  and  played 
with  his  hands  and  called  them  idle.  They  were 
whiter  and  softer  than  hers.  But  Brigitte  herself 
took  care  of  the  forty  beehives  at  Liinegaard,  and 
herself  smoked  out  the  bees  every  autumn.  That 
gave  her  stings  and  freckles  and  sunburn. 

She  called  Jacob,  jestingly,  a  musk-rat  decked 
out  for  a  wedding,  on  account  of  his  sweet-smell- 
ing, many-coloured  clothes. 

161 


162  THE  GOVERNOR 

He  looked  angry.  He  had  warned  Runow 
that  the  time  was  come  when  Kaina  must  bring 
forth  her  child,  but  had  been  rebuffed;  whilst 
Brigitte  was  under  his  roof  only  one  name  might 
be  pronounced,  and  that  was  hers. 

At  Klitgaard  and  in  Runow's  chamber  Kaina 
bore  her  child. 

When  the  first  pains  racked  her  body  she  was 
lying  under  the  bell.  She  screamed,  and  the 
screams  grew  and  rang  against  the  metal  walls, 
grew  and  echoed  back  like  splitting  blows 
against  her  forehead,  drove  red-hot  wedges  into 
her  ears.  It  was  as  if  the  walls  of  the  bell  were 
closing  together  about  her.  Every  breath 
sounded  like  a  cry. 

When  she  was  silent  the  child,  too,  was  para- 
lyzed by  the  terror  in  her  blood ;  it  did  not  move, 
did  not  struggle  towards  life. 

At  last  she  managed  to  crawl  out,  with  clammy 
skin,  weary  to  death,  full  of  fear  for  the  living 
being  who  commanded  her  body  and  was  itself 
a  body,  though  as  yet  invisible.  The  pure  air 
lent  her  strength.  Soon  she  began  to  creep  on 


THE  GOVERNOR  163 

hands  and  knees  through  the  silent  night  towards 
Klitgaard. 

Lights  shone  from  all  the  windows.  Laugh- 
ter rang  through  the  house. 

As  she  hesitated,  uncertain,  the  pains  began 
once  more.  The  child  struggled  angrily  for  re- 
lease. She  entered  through  the  open  turret-door. 

And  she  bore  the  child  without  a  sound.  It, 
too,  made  no  sound ;  every  drop  of  blood  in  her 
had  warned  it  to  be  still. 

When  once  Runow  had  seen  it  she  would  get 
up  and  go  with  it  to  the  great  river.  She  would 
dip  her  forehead  in  the  water,  amongst  blossoms 
the  child  should  float  away  through  all  the 
rivers,  across  all  the  seas — 

She  fell  asleep. 

Runow's  unrest  drove  him  out  of  the  room 
away  from  Jacob  and  Brigitte.  On  the  thres- 
hold he  felt  that  Kaina  was  there,  and  he  saw 
her  and  by  her  the  little  babe. 

He  kneeled  down  beside  her,  kissed  her  hands, 
wept — and  drove  her  away  with  soft,  despondent 
words.  For  Brigitte  of  Liinegaard  was  come, 
and  she  must  know  nothing,  nothing  at  all.  But 


164  THE  GOVERNOR 

when  Brigitte  slept  he  would  come  to  Kaina  and 
remain  with  her  and  her  child. 

She  knew  that  he  was  lying. 

Wearily  she  rose  from  the  couch  and  crept 
obediently  out  into  the  night  with  her  little  one. 
She  seated  herself  on  a  stone  by  the  pond  beside 
the  house,  uncertain  what  to  do.  She  tore  strips 
from  her  dress  and  wrapped  them  about  the 

babe  that  the  chill  of  the  night  might  not  harm  it. 

******** 

Wax  candles  burned  in  Runow's  chamber, 
twelve  by  twelve,  in  a  wide  circle.  He  had  re- 
moved every  trace  of  Kaina  with  his  own  hands 
and  now  he  awaited  Brigitte. 

The  lights  burned  crookedly,  wax  'dropped 
from  them  continually. 

"The  candles  prophesy  ill,  every  one  of  them 
is  weeping!"  She  would  have  extinguished 
them,  but  Runow  would  not  let  her.  He  must 
have  light  that  he  might  see  her  and  know  that 
she  was  with  him. 

Brigitte  took  the  red  silk  cushion  and  held  it 
against  her  cheek.  "It  is  as  soft  as  a  woman's 
hair,  so  it  seems  to  me.  Tell  me,  Runow,  what 


THE  GOVERNOR  165 

is  the  name  of  the  woman  who  sewed  it  for  thy 
dreams?    Was  it  that  maid  in  Holland?" 

As  he  made  no  answer  she  asked  no  more  con- 
cerning it.  She  showered  her  caresses  upon 
him  and  talked  into  his  mouth  so  that  her  words 
sounded  like  the  cooing  of  doves.  They  fell 
asleep  as  blissfully  as  if  this  night  were  the  last 
that  was  given  them  to  live  and  love. 


Kaina  lifted  the  child  towards  the  setting 
moon,  towards  the  rising  sun,  and  then  pushed  it 
softly  far  out  into  the  pond. 

Startled  out  of  their  lazy  sleep  the  carp  swam 
towards  it  in  dense  shoals,  opening  their  jaws 
and  snapping  at  its  little  living  fingers. 

Kaina  saw  this  with  horror,  but  she  hast- 
ened away.  For  the  child  must  not  find  its 
path  to  the  eternal  peace  pursued  by  weeping 
and  lamentation. 

As  she  fled  past  Klitgaard  she  struck  her  nose 
against  an  unseen  post  and  cried  out,  but  ran  on. 

Brigitte  awoke  and  asked,  "Who  was  that  who 
cried?" 

Runow  was  silent  that  his  voice  might  not  be- 
tray him.  Again  she  put  her  question,  seizing 
him  by  the  arm,  and  now  he  answered  as  if  out 
of  heavy  slumber,  "I  heard  nothing!" 

She  was  not  so  easily  satisfied,  but  wrapped 
her  cloak  about  her  nakedness  and  went  out  into 

166 


THE  GOVERNOR  167 

the  white  twilight.  Between  two  elms  she  saw 
the  water  of  the  pond  move.  In  one  place  the 
fish  were  collected  in  a  shoal.  The  air  was  so 
still  that  she  could  hear  their  greedy  snapping. 
They  shot  to  and  fro.  When  the  sun  mounted 
higher  she  distinguished  the  child.  It  looked 
as  if  it  were  fleeing  before  the  rapacious  fish 
from  the  one  shore  to  the  other. 

She  was  seized  with  fury  against  the  being 
who  had  thrown  so  helpless  a  creature  of  God 
into  the  filthy  water.  She  threw  back  her  mantle, 
waded  out,  beat  off  the  fish  with  her  large  hands 
and  took  the  child,  but  slipped  again  and  again 
in  the  mud  and  could  scarcely  reach  the  shore. 

Once  more  she  wrapped  her  cloak  about  her 
and  hid  the  child  against  her  warm  bosom.  Ru- 
now  was  at  the  window,  his  lower  lip  hanging. 
She  held  it  out  to  him,  not  noticing  his  horror. 

"See,  Runow,  see  this  little  thing,  but  take  it 
carefully!  I  pulled  it  out  of  the  pond  and  I  am 
all  wet." 

He  took  it  in  his  hands.  Twice  he  opened  his 
lips,  but  he  could  not  speak.  Then  he  fell  for- 
ward on  his  face. 


168  THE  GOVERNOR 

She  had  not  held  Runow  to  be  so  weak,  al- 
though somewhat  cowardly.  She  shivered  under 
the  cloak  and  shook  him  softly,  but  the  womanish 
fainting-fit  lasted  some  time  and  he  lay  uncon- 
scious on  the  floor.  She  drew  a  deep  breath  and, 
collecting  all  her  strength,  lifted  him  with  diffi- 
culty on  to  the  bed.  He  still  held  the  child  fast. 

Then  she  dried  her  body  and  dressed  herself. 
When  she  looked  round  at  him  he  was  crouching 
at  the  end  of  the  bed  farthest  from  the  child. 

She  could  not  help  pitying  him.  "Thou  must 
be  weak  indeed  if  so  pitiful  a  thing  can  rob 
thee  of  thy  strength.  I  could  almost  believe 
that  thou  hadst  never  seen  a  corpse  before.  But 
hasten  and  call  out  thy  lazy  fellows  that  they 
may  discover  who  has  borne  this  night,  that  the 
punishment  of  her  sii*  may  follow  in  its  footsteps. 
My  hands  would  gladly  seize  the  filthy,  good- 
for-nothing  woman — and  I  wish  with  all  my 
heart  that  her  eyes  may  be  thrust  out  before  she 
loses  her  life!" 

She  was  so  indignant  that  she  herself  awakened 
the  watchman  and  the  bailiff  from  their  sleep 
and  led  them  to  Runow.  She  gave  one  order,  he 


THE  GOVERNOR  16$ 

another,  for  he  must  first  collect  his  thoughts; 
but  before  an  hour  had  passed  men  were  search- 
ing in  all  directions.  Old  Karen  Maja  who  had 
long,  fine  fingers  and  who  helped  to  loosen  in- 
fants from  their  mothers,  went  with  them — she 
should  see  by  the  women's  breasts  which  of  them 
had  recently  borne. 

Brigitte  fetched  a  little  red  trough  in  which 
she  laid  the  child,  covering  it  over  with  a  ker- 
chief. Shortly  after  she  brought  the  law-books 
that  Runow  might  show  her  what  punishment 
could  be  dealt  out  for  so  evil  a  deed  as  the  killing 
of  a  tiny,  new-born  creature. 

There  was  a  scratching  at  the  door.  Arnlys' 
little  girl  entered  and  said,  in  a  low  voice,  as 
though  frightened  at  her  own  errand,  "She, 
Kaina,  is  lying  out  there  and  scooping  out  the 
pond,  and  she  is  crying  that  the  fish  have 
eaten  a  little  child  who  crept  out  of  her  body!" 

Brigitte  rose  hurriedly,  seized  the  trough  and 
dragged  Runow  out  with  her.  By  the  pond  sat 
Kaina,  scooping  up  the  water  with  her  hands. 

Brigitte  dropped  the  trough  beside  her;  "Does 
she  recognize  her  evil  deed?" 


1 70  THE  GOVERNOR 

Kaina  seized  the  child,  pushed  back  her 
chemise  and  laid  the  little  corpse  against  her 
breast,  from  which  the  milk  oozed. 

She  looked  up  and  asked,  softly,  "Are  you  she 
who  is  called  Brigitte  of  Liinegaard?"  And 
without  awaiting  a  reply  she  said,  again:  uBut 
you  slept  every  night  upon  my  hair — every  night 
you  slept  upon  my  hair!" 

Brigitte  bent  over  her  and  asked  her,  sharply, 
"Who  slept  upon  thy  hair?" 

Kaina  was  silent,  and  Runow  did  not  move. 

Whilst  Brigitte  ran  to  fetch  Vige  Laem,  Ru- 
now must  keep  watch  over  Kaina,  but  she  did 
not  speak  to  him.  Only  she  shuddered  as  if  the 
chill  of  the  little  body  pierced  through  her 
breast  to  bone  and  marrow. 

Kaina  was  conducted  to  the  prison-cell,  but 
she  might  not  keep  the  child  with  her.  It  must 
remain  at  Klitgaard  until  the  trial  was  ended. 

Before  Brigitte  went  on  board  she  made  Ru- 
now promise  to  send  her  long  and  frequent  let- 
ters and  to  tell  her  of  the  trial  and  the  sentence. 
Over  the  rail  of  the  ship  she  gave  him  her  hands, 
and  he  touched  them  with  his  cold  lips  and  held 


THE  GOVERNOR  171 

them  fast,  and  went  out  into  the  water,  unable 
to  let  her  go. 

"Thou,  Brigitte,  art  my  only  strength  for  good 
and  evil." 

She  laughed  and  tore  herself  away  from  him, 
and  wept. 


The  friends  of  Arnlys  and  the  kinsmen  of  Tar- 
ben  kept  watch  under  the  prison  walls.  It  was 
whispered  amongst  them  that  the  governor  was 
seeking  a  means  to  send  the  huzzy  away  by  ship ; 
but  that  should  not  be,  even  though  the  day's 
work  and  the  night's  rest  must  be  sacrificed  to 
prevent  it.  Those  who  at  other  times  could  not 
agree  as  to  white  and  black,  now  yielded  amiably 
and  divided  time  and  watches  between  them,  that 
sentries  might  always  be  pacing  the  path. 

Kaina  had  the  cell  to  herself.  She  was  not 
fettered.  The  governor  insisted  that  a  sick 
woman  should  not  be  fastened,  and  still  less 
weighted  with  iron.  In  the  beginning  she  stood 
and  looked  out  into  the  clear  air,  but  from  all 
the  spy-holes  staring,  evil  eyes  were  watching 
her  and  did  not  leave  her  face. 

After  that  she  crouched  upon  the  ground 
where  no  one  could  reach  her;  but  whenever 

she  looked  up  she  saw  again  the  watching  eyes. 

172 


THE  GOVERNOR  173 

For  the  most  part  she  hid  her  face  in  her  lap 
so  that  it  was  dark  and  quiet  about  her.  The 
blood  sang  in  her  ears  as  if  she  were  sitting  be- 
side the  sea  or  under  the  big-sounding  bell. 
Then  she  could  dream  peacefully  of  the  little 
child  and  imagine  that  it  still  rested  under  her 
heart,  or  that  it  was  creeping  out  of  her  body — 
but  if  she  woke  and  tried  to  grasp  it  she  caught 
at  empty  air. 

At  night,  when  the  shadows  glided  in  at  one 
spy-hole,  out  at  another,  over  the  walls  and  the 
floor,  over  her  face  and  hands,  her  heart  grew 
terrified.  The  silent  night  bore  to  her  listening 
ears  a  thousand  noises.  She  heard  the  fish 
snapping  in  the  pond.  Only  one  wish  filled  her, 
and  nothing  more  for  herself — that  they  might 
give  her  back  her  little  child. 

She  gazed  at  her  empty  hands  that  had  once 
held  it.  It  seemed  to  her  that  she  could  hear  it 
crying  in  every  corner,  and  she  crept  round  the 
cell  to  reach  it,  tapped  on  the  walls  and  on  the 
floor,  everywhere.  The  child  was  not  there. 

Outside  in  the  warm  summer  night  some  one 


174  THE  GOVERNOR 

lay  and  snored,  there  was  always  some  one  there, 
but  he  slept  lightly. 

Days  and  week?  passed,  and  still  she  had  not 
been  summoned  to  trial,  still  the  trough  with 
the  child  stood  at  Klitgaard;  but  in  the  turret 
that  Runow  did  not  enter.  Vige  Laem  began 
to  wonder.  Was  the  huzzy  to  remain  on  there 
for  nothing,  and  be  a  burden  to  him  who  must 
feed  and  watch  her? 

Restlessly  Runow  wandered  to  and  fro  and 
waited.  He  would  have  Kaina  brought  before 
him  when  the  time  came,  and  would  ask  her 
name  and  her  country,  and  the  name  of  the  man 
who  had  made  her  a  mother.  When  the  time 
came. 

He  knew  Kaina,  and  knew  that  in  the  presence 
of  others  she  would  be  silent  despite  force  and 
threats.  And  he  and  she  should  not  be  left  alone. 

But  when  Vige  Laem  sent  word  to  know 
whether  he  should  not  set  a  pair  of  small  iron 
links  upon  her  legs  that  she  might  not  escape 
before  her  trial  and  get  him  into  trouble  or  even 
lose  him  his  office,  Runow  saw  that  he  must  act. 

Any  one  who  would  bear  witness  would  be 


THE  GOVERNOR  175 

summoned  to  Klitgaard,  the  hall  could  be  cleared 
out  if  there  were  not  room  enough,  and  all  state- 
ments would  be  believed.  And  before  all  these 
eyes,  before  all  these  evil  tongues,  Kaina  would 
stand  without  one  helping  hand  stretched  out  to 
her! 

It  must  be,  for  there  was  no  way  out.  After- 
wards there  would  be  time  enough  for  flight. 

But  whenever  he  thought  of  Kaina  she  seemed 
to  him  like  the  little,  helpless  child  amongst  the 
swarm  of  greedy  fish.  He  banished  the  thought 
from  his  mind. 

Jacob  gave  him  counsel,  which  he  instantly 
followed. 

He  sent  an  urgent  message  to  the  mainland 
with  a  letter  to  the  lords  of  the  chapter-house, 
stating  that  the  great  difficulty  of  the  case  obliged 
him  to  demand  an  extra  judge  that  a  just  sentence 
might  be  obtained  more  speedily.  The  same 
boat  carried  a  message  to  the  governor  of  Saby, 
Dyre  Funder,  begging  him  to  come  instantly  to 
Laeso  and  support  the  governor  of  the  island, 
Runow  Ruyter,  in  a  most  important  and  pressing 
affair. 


176  THE  GOVERNOR 

Dyre  Funder  came  willingly  and  speedily. 
The  fat  wolf-fish  that  were  caught  in  the  north 
of  the  island  were  a  great  dainty  to  him,  and  he 
ate  them  three  times  a  day  with  pepper-corns 
and  melted  butter.  He  chatted  good-humour- 
edly  with  Jacob  about  Tubingen  and  its  good 
beer,  and  the  white  wine  that  is  so  difficult  to 
keep  from  going  sour. 

It  was  only  on  the  following  day  that  he  found 
leisure  to  make  inquiries  concerning  the  girl, 
Kaina.  Runow  was  somewhat  taciturn  and  slow 
in  his  explanation,  but  the  words  flew  readily 
from  Jacob's  tongue. 

So  Dyre  Funder  learned  that  Kaina  had  lived 
for  more  than  three  years  under  the  roof  of 
Klitgaard. 

But  since  then ? 

Aye,  since  then—  -! 

Dyre  Funder  quite  understood  that  she  had 
wandered  about  in  accordance  with  her  own  evil 
pleasure.  So  many  the  more  would  be  the  wit- 
nesses of  her  shame. 

The  trial  was  to  take  place  on  the  following 
morning,  and  the  bailifT  wrote  in  chalk  on  the 


THE  GOVERNOR  177 

doors  of  Klitgaard  and  ran  to  Vige  Laem  who 
must  himself  go  through  the  country  and  sum- 
mon the  people  to  the  assembly,  even  the  workers 
at  the  salt-pans  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  cluster 
of  huts  that  lay  huddled  together  near  the 
church. 

The  peasants  lifted  their  heads,  but  not  the 
spoons  from  their  sour  fish-soup — there  would 
be  good  sport  to-morrow! 

The  strange  judge  became  the  more  eager  the 
more  he  learned  of  Kaina,  the  pastor  Glob  was 
also  to  bear  witness  as  to  her  Christianity,  of 
which  there  certainly  was  not  much  to  boast. 


Dyre  Funder  listened  carefully  to  all  the  tes- 
timony, and  much  that  was  new  thus  came  to 
light.  Runow  was  in  the  habit  of  stopping  the 
peasants  when  their  tongues  began  to  wag,  but 
the  strange  judge  was  gentle  and  gave  them  time 
to  say  all  that  they  wished.  Two  old,  stunted 
hags,  with  sharp  tongues,  spoke  up  willingly; 
aye,  she  ran  after  young  men,  old  men,  and  even 
boys,  and  crept  in  impudent  shamelessness  into 
the  very  huts,  the  huzzy,  each  night  into  a  new 
one — so  that  they  had  to  protect  their  men-folk 
from  her.  Certainly  that  was  a  while  ago.  For 
since  then — 

For  since  then? 

Runow  rose  from  his  seat  of  judgment,  and 
let  his  eyes  pass  keenly  and  slowly  over  every 
face,  and  no  one  knew  anything  of  the  nights 
that  had  passed  "since  then."  As  he  once  more 

seated  himself  it  seemed  to  him  as  if  the  whole 

178 


THE  GOVERNOR  179 

room  were  covered  with  green  mould,  and  his 
fingers  were  paralyzed. 

Dyre  Funder  asked  whether  any  one  sus- 
pected, knew,  or  guessed  who  had  been  her  light 
of  love  at  the  time  when  the  child  was  conceived. 

A  hissing  murmur  passed  through  the  hall,  a 
noise,  but  no  words. 

Once  more  Runow  rose  and  asked,  in  a  sharp 
voice  and  with  smiling  lips,  whether  they  had  not 
a  suspicion — a  mere  suspicion. 

It  was  old  Poul  Finken  who  summoned  up 
his  courage  to  speak. 

If  the  just  judge  and  the  gracious  lord  really 
wished  to  know,  it  was  the  devil  himself  who  was 
father  to  the  child,  he  and  no  other. 

But  Pastor  Glob,  who  was  perspiring  in  a 
corner,  plagued  by  many  flies,  demanded  to  be 
heard  and  sworn.  He  told  of  all  the  insults  that 
the  girl  had  heaped  upon  him,  although  he 
had  vowed  with  great  spiritual  and  physical 
warmth  to  fill  her  with  simple,  Christian  faith. 
But,  nevertheless,  she  was  a  blasphemer,  with 
thick  blood,  and  possessed  by  paganism.  He  had 


i8o  THE  GOVERNOR 

shed  tears  upon  the  altar-cloth  over  the  way- 
wardness with  which  she  had  rejected  grace. 

Then  Kaina  was  led  in,  tied  only  with  a  slen- 
der hempen  cord  that  did  her  no  hurt,  and  a 
heavy  hail  of  angry  questions  rained  down  upon 
her. 

For  a  long  while  she  remained  silent,  until 
Vige  Laem  shook  her  good-naturedly  by  the 
arm,  and  then  she  began  to  cast  side-glances 
and  to  nod  when  she  was  spoken  to,  or  to 
shake  her  head,  quite  by  hazard  and  without 
understanding. 

She  said  that  she  knew  neither  her  name  nor 
her  land.  Once  her  eyes  glanced  towards  Ru- 
now,  but  she  immediately  blinked  as  if  they  had 
encountered  too  strong  a  light.  Runow  watched 
her  calmly,  her  thinness,  the  result  of  captivity, 
went  to  his  heart.  For  the  rest,  so  long  as  she 
was  present  in  the  hall,  he  felt  himself  secure. 
He  knew  his  power  over  her  yielding  spirit,  and 
although  he  saw  that  her  head  and  arms  trembled 
with  pain  he  felt  that  he  was  safe. 

She  was  asked  about  the  child. 

She  caught  at  her  breast;  something  sucked 


THE  GOVERNOR  181 

and  tugged  at  it  as  if  little  lips  were  seeking 
sustenance.  Ah,  how  it  hurt  her  as  she  became 
aware  that  milk  was  trickling  from  it! 

The  bailiff  brought  in  the  little  trough;  it  was 
placed  in  front  of  Kaina  and  the  cloth  was 
removed. 

"Dost  thou  acknowledge  it?  Was  it  flesh  of 
thy  flesh?  Did  it  creep  from  thy  lap?"  She 
swayed  backwards  and  forwards  and  sighed 
deeply  at  each  question. 

"Have  these,  thy  hands,  dealt  out  death  to  it?" 

With  a  spring  she  reached  the  trough,  pressed 
it  to  her,  rocked  it  in  her  arms. 

"Yes!" 

She  cried  it  aloud  so  that  the  hall  rang  with  it. 

But  Dyre  Funder  held  a  fold  of  his  mantle 
before  his  nose  and  shuddered  before  he  con- 
tinued:— 

"Two  conceived  it — who  shared  thy  lust?" 

She  rocked  the  child  and  did  not  at  once 
answer. 

"He  slept  upon  my  hair — every  night  he  slept 
upon  my  hair!"  her  lips  whispered,  as  if  in  a 
tender  caress.  She  did  not  look  at  Runow,  but 


182  THE  GOVERNOR 

spoke  only  to  the  child.  Her  eyes  shone  and 
wandered  restlessly  over  it.  Then  the  gleam 
went  out  of  them  and  she  ceased  to  rock  it. 

For  now  she  saw — 

For  now  she  saw  what  her  arms  held! 

She  stretched  them  out  at  full  length  in  front 
of  her  and  stepped  backwards,  her  gaze  fixed  on 
the  child,  back  through  the  crowd  of  witnesses 
who  made  way  for  her,  backwards  to  the  wall. 
She  could  not  get  farther  away  from  the  child— 
and  yet  could  not  let  it  go. 

All  eyes  stared  at  her. 

Runow  also.  Something  like  an  iron  ring  was 
pressing  on  his  brain  and  kept  his  head  from 
bursting. 

Without  a  word  Jacob  rose  from  his  place, 
took  the  little  trough  from  Kaina's  hands  and 
carried  it  out.  Dyre  Funder  opened  his  mouth 
wide  in  amazement  until  Jacob  returned. 

"Dear  friend  and  gracious  lord  judge,  my 
nose,  like  a  dainty  maid,  was  near  to  fainting, 
and  therefore  I  took  the  liberty!" 

They  all  laughed. 

But  Jacob's  eyes  blinked  ceaselessly  as  if  under 


THE  GOVERNOR  183 

strong  emotion.  The  witnesses  repeated  in 
Kama's  presence  their  complaints  and  accusa- 
tions. When  she  was  interrogated,  and  believed 
from  the  tone  of  Dyre  Funder's  voice  that  he  ex- 
pected her  to  answer  "yes,"  she  nodded,  other- 
wise she  looked  only  at  the  door  and  from  the 
door  to  Jacob. 

So  far  they  arrived  on  the  first  day. 

And  Dyre  Funder  ate  with  satisfied  con- 
science, and  in  company  with  Runow  and  Jacob, 
fat  wolf-fish,  young  moor-hens,  and  spiced  leg  of 
mutton.  Laeso  appeared  to  his  palate  an  agree- 
able land,  with  sensible,  expansive  witnesses. 

But  when  Runow  next  day  was  chained  to  his 
bed  with  toothache,  with  warm  poultices  on  his 
cheek,  and  Dyre  Funder  remained  alone  whilst 
the  pastor  Glob  gave  his  testimony  against  Kaina 
and  questioned  her,  she  kept  a  moody  silence. 
She  crouched  together  and  let  her  arms  hang, 
whether  they  poked  or  pushed  her.  Silently  she 
brooded. 

For  the  strange  judge's  benefit,  the  watchman 
had  recently  arrested  two  foreign  glass-blowers 
who  were  accused  of  assault  and  other  lewdness. 


184  THE  GOVERNOR 

Runow  had  had  them  locked  up  in  the  dark  loft 
at  Klitgaard,  where  they  sat  and  howled  and 
stamped  like  wild  horses  from  sheer  boredom 
and  wickedness,  in  the  narrow  darkness  just  over 
the  chimney.  Their  breath  whistled  with  fury. 

He  thought  that  such   enlivening  company 
might  loosen  the  stubborn  tongue  of  the  girl- 
but  he  would  not  allow  any  love-making. 

In  his  ardour  he  followed  Vige  Laem  into 
the  prison-cell,  and  helped  him  to  measure  the 
scoundrels'  chains. 

Then  each  of  them  was  fastened  to  the  wall  in 
such  a  way  that  he  could  make  two  paces  in  the 
cell.  Dyre  Funder  watched  through  the  spy- 
hole to  see  the  fun. 

Both  the  glass-blowers  sprang  to  the  length  of 
their  chains  and  snatched  at  the  girl,  who  pressed 
herself  back  against  the  wall.  They  tore  the 
damp  sleeping-skin  from  under  her  feet  so  that 
she  fell,  and  they  caught  hold  of  her  dress.  But 
Dyre  Funder  laughed  and  they  let  her  go  again. 
She  speedily  became  docile,  and  promised  to 
answer  everything,  and  before  the  night  came 
the  chains  were  shortened. 


THE  GOVERNOR  185 

When  Runow  heard  from  Dyre  Funder's  lips 
how  Kaina  had  been  tamed,  his  toothache  left 
him,  and  he  rose  to  conduct  the  trial  once  more. 
The  best  thing  would  be  to  send  the  two  fellows 
out  of  the  country  as  quickly  as  possible.  Each 
had  an  ear  clipped  off  with  a  pair  of  sharp 
shears,  and  they  were  set  upon  a  small,  flat  raft 
that  would  carry  them  whither  it  and  the  wind 
pleased,  but  not  back  again  to  Laeso. 

After  this  Runow  kept  well  and  watchful  dur- 
ing all  the  seven  hearings,  and  Kaina  answered 
obediently.  When  Dyre  Funder  asked  her 
whether  an  evil  spirit  had  fathered  the  child,  she 
answered  "yes."  She  was  condemned  to  the  ten- 
fold death.  But  as  she  possessed  only  one  life, 
Dyre  Funder  pondered  sagely  and  decided,  with 
Runow,  that  her  limbs  should  be  broken  and  she 
herself  burned. 

The  affair  had  come  almost  too  rapidly  to  an 
end ;  Dyre  Funder  would  gladly  have  remained 
for  some  weeks  upon  the  island  with  its  appetiz- 
ing wolf-fish,  but  the  Saby  court  of  justice  could 
no  longer  dispense  with  its  worthy  judge.  How- 
ever, he  promised  to  be  present  at  the  girl's  exe- 


i86  THE  GOVERNOR 

cution;  he  would  not  miss  that  pleasant  spectacle 
after  the  fatigues  of  the  trial. 

Before  he  departed  Kaina  was  chained' with 
heavy  fetters  on  wrists  and  ankles,  and  Vige 
Laem  received  strict  orders  on  no  condition  to 
loosen  them  until  the  sentence  should  be  carried 
out. 

The  boat  that  conveyed  Dyre  Funder  to  the 
mainland  also  had  on  board  two  trustworthy  men 
who  were  to  bear  the  sealed  sentence  to  the  high 
court  of  the  chapter-house  of  Viborg.  In  all 
probability  it  would  have  to  be  forwarded  thence 
to  the  higher  court,  and  this  would  occupy  some 
time. 


Winter  came  suddenly  with  ice  and  snow. 
The  sea  was  covered  with  blocks  of  ice.  The 
ground  was  like  roughened  hide,  the  hollows 
became  sheets  of  glass. 

Every  one  was  shy  of  touching  iron,  for  it 
burned  like  fire  to  the  hand.  Those  who  had  fuel 
made  themselves  comfortable  on  the  hearth,  the 
others  crept  under  wool  and  skins  and  kept  them- 
selves warm  with  their  own  sweat.  Between 
Laeso  and  the  mainland  the  ice  screwed  and 
squeezed  itself,  cracking  and  grinding.  There 
was  no  fish  to  be  caught. 

The  watch  was  now  superfluous. 

Kaina  lay  in  the  prison.  The  raw  marks  on 
her  wrists  and  ankles  were  red-hot  with  the  cold. 
Icy  snow  drifted  into  her  eyes,  burning  them  like 
salt — the  whirlwind  tore  through  every  spy-hole. 
The  floor  was  a  morass  of  filthy  pools  that  shone 
like  envious  eyes  in  the  daytime,  and  in  the  night 

froze  to  ice. 

187 


i88  THE  GOVERNOR 

Each  morning  Vige  Laem  sent  her  a  copper 
brazier  of  coals.  Over  it  she  thawed  her  frozen 
hands  and  feet  so  that  the  wounds  smarted  and 
their  crusts  fell  off. 

The  food  that  he  gave  her  tasted  of  one  thing 
and  smelled  of  another;  she  touched  it  with  re- 
pugnance, but  when  she  had  fasted  for  two  days 
she  dug  her  fingers  into  it  and  devoured  it  all  to 
the  last  morsel.  Then  it  lay  like  smouldering 
peat  in  her  stomach. 

Sometimes  Jacob  came.  First  she  would  hear 
his  shrill,  disagreeable  laugh  as  he  talked  to  Vige 
Laem  of  unchaste  things,  mentioning  her  name. 
He  brought  her  freshly  smoked  mutton  and  a 
can  of  warm  milk  wrapped  in  a  cat-skin,  but 
she  threw  it  on  the  ground — from  him  she  would 
take  nothing.  She  distrusted  the  very  breath  of 
his  mouth. 

Dearly,  with  the  gold  that  he  loved  more  than 
his  own  soul,  with  shrill  laugh  and  with  unclean 
speech,  Jacob  purchased  the  right  to  enter  the 
cell.  And  Vige  Laem  thought  his  own  thoughts. 

Once  Jacob  bargained  with  him  that  he  might 
loosen  the  fetters  for  a  while.  Aye,  Vige  Laem 


THE  GOVERNOR  189 

agreed,  and  agreed  also  to  remain  away  and  leave 
them  in  peace  for  a  whole  night.  They  might 
enjoy  themselves  as  they  pleased. 

To  show  his  good-will  he  brought  in  a  well- 
filled  hay  pillow,  laid  it  on  the  skin  couch,  and 
set  two  braziers  at  the  head  and  foot  of  it. 

But  it  was  for  a  very  different  reason  that 
Jacob  wished  to  see  the  fetters  loosened. 

Deaf  to  his  whispers,  Kaina  rolled  herself  to- 
gether in  a  corner.  He  stood  before  her  hesitat- 
ing— and  in  his  abstraction  he  stroked  her  face 
with  his  fingers. 

Suddenly  she  sprang  up,  seized  them,  and  held 
them  fast  She  recognized  the  two  deft,  soft 
hands;  they  smelled  of  crushed  willow-twigs. 
They  it  was  that  had  brought  her  food  every 
evening  under  the  bell. 

The  coals  filled  the  cell  with  yellow  smoke,  it 
was  dark,  and  they  knew  not  what  to  say  to  each 
other.  Jacob  warmed  a  can  of  water  over  the 
fire,  washed  her  wounds,  poured  grey  salve  into 
them  and  bound  them  up  with  linen.  He  combed 
her  poor  hair,  and  gave  her  a  clean  chemise  and 


190  THE  GOVERNOR 

a  new  dress  in  place  of  that  which  the  glass- 
blowers  had  torn. 

She  let  him  tend  and  care  for  her. 

Then  she  rested  on  the  fresh  hay-pillow  and 
Jacob  talked  to  her.  But  he  said  nothing  of  his 
own  beating  heart,  nothing  of  the  sick  longing 
that  had  filled  him  ever  since  the  moment  when 
he  had  first  seen  her.  Runow  was  still  lord  of  her 
will — and  he  only  brought  her  a  message  from 
Runow. 

In  Runow's  name  he  talked  to  her  kindly,  in 
Runow's  name  he  betrayed  Brigitte  and  swore 
that  never  again  should  she  set  foot  in  Klitgaard. 
But  for  her  life's  sake  Kaina  must  hold  herself 
in  readiness  so  soon  as  an  answer  and  a  ship 
should  come  from  Holland  and  the  ice  break. 

She  pointed  with  her  finger — was  it  over  the 
sea?  She  would  not  cross  the  sea — only  not  cross 
the  sea ! — but  rather  meet  death  willingly.  Her 
heart  was  so  weary,  weary  unto  death,  so  that 
she  could  no  longer  feel  with  her  finger  where  it 
was.  And  she  knew  that  Brigitte  would  come 
back;  of  course  she  would  come  back. 

Then    she    fell    asleep — and    in    sleep    she 


THE  GOVERNOR  191 

stretched  out  her  two  arms  and  laid  them  about 
Jacob's  neck,  and  his  lips  rested  upon  hers.  But 
she  murmured  Runow's  name,  and  he  freed  him- 
self from  her  embrace  and  crept  away. 


The  skipper  was  at  Klitgaard  with  greeting 
and  a  letter  from  Greener  Pleyelt.  From  the 
letter  hung  a  seal. 

"The  ship,  laden  with  Delft  tiles,  is  sailing 
northwards.  The  skipper  is  more  serviceable 
than  faithful — he  can  be  bought  with  gold.  Only 
send  the  girl  to  me.  What  bread  I  have  shall  be 
divided  into  two  portions  and  she  shall  share 
my  hunger. 

"Yet  I  would  counsel  thee,  Runow,  not  to  link 
thy  life  to  any  woman's.  Rather  take  the  punish- 
ment of  thy  sin  and  save  thy  soul  whilst  there  is 
yet  time. 

"Know  that  thou  hast  so  poisoned  Cornelia's 
blood,  the  purest  of  the  pure,  that  she  is  not 
ashamed  to  speak  her  unchaste  lust  and  to  call 
upon  thy  name,  instead  of  kneeling  before  Him 
upon  the  Cross.  Neither  my  prayers  nor  my 
pain  can  banish  the  malady  from  her  body. 

"It  is  empty  here.    All  is  empty  around  me 


192 


THE  GOVERNOR  193 

and  in  my  heart.  The  flowers  died,  they  froze 
one  winter-night — as  my  joy  froze  one  summer 
night  when  Cornelia  left  the  city. 

"But  thou  art  called  judge  over  men's  lives — 
to  the  damnation  of  their  souls  and  thine  own! 
I  am  old — and  I  cry,  Woe  unto  thee,  Runow!" 

The  skipper's  mouth  went  like  a  mill-wheel. 
It  was  to  be  expected,  he  said,  that  before  many 
years  had  passed  Groener  Pleyelt  would  wander 
with  beggar's  sack  and  beggar's  staff  from  door 
to  door,  if  he  were  not  in  the  mad-house.  All  his 
goods  he  gave  away,  and  the  costly  herbs  of  the 
garden  were  left  to  wilter  and  to  freeze.  He 
himself  preferred  to  lie  on  the  threshold  of  the 
church  with  seven  crippled  beggars,  weeping 
and  beating  his  breast.  Or  he  gathered  to  him 
the  maidens  of  the  town,  like  a  swarm  of  doves 
about  a  sieve  of  corn,  and  bellowed  into  their  ears 
concerning  sin  and  the  temptations  of  the  blood 
until  the  fear  for  their  little  white  souls  sent 
them  away.  One  was  forced  to  pity  him,  for 
his  beautiful  daughter  was  possessed,  and  the 
heaviest  penance  could  not  suffice  to  free  her. 

Runow  wrinkled  his  forehead  in  doubt.    But 


194  THE  GOVERNOR 

come  what  might — Kaina  must  go  to  Groener  in 
Utrecht,  and  even  if  she,  too,  must  lie  before  the 
church  door.  If  she  would  not  go  willingly, 
then  she  must  be  taken  by  force. 

Runow  made  the  skipper  swear  silence,  and 
they  began  to  bargain. 

Thamis  of  Rotterdam,  such  was  the  skipper's 
name,  would  lie  at  anchor  six  days  under  the 
island,  but  not  an  hour  longer. 

The  three  crabbed  merchants  in  Elsinore  who 
were  awaiting  the  ship's  cargo,  were  not  easy  to 
deceive;  should  they  learn  the  true  reason  of  the 
delay  he  would  lose  their  confidence  and  a  great 
part  of  his  profits. 

On  that  account  he  must  take  care  of  his  skin 
in  advance,  and  demand  high  payment  for  the 
undertaking. 

They  came  to  an  agreement 

But  from  the  moment  when  Thamis  of  Rot- 
terdam anchored  his  schooner  west  of  the  island 
Kaina  was  watched  again.  Two  men  or  two 
women  walked  noisily,  day  and  night,  about  the 
prison.  They  made  beer  over  peat-fires  in  a 
sand-hole  and  kept  Vige  Laem  awake  with  it. 


THE  GOVERNOR  195 

No  one  was  the  least  in  doubt  as  to  the  meaning 
of  Thamis'  presence. 

He  strutted  about  the  island  in  a  pair  of  high, 
shining  riding-boots,  a  jerkin  of  chequered 
leather,  and  a  turned-down  collar  round  his 
broad  neck.  He  jested  with  every  one  he  met, 
and  the  women  were  crazy  after  him.  It  was 
with  difficulty  that  he  kept  himself  from 
boasting. 

A  plan  was  laid  between  him  and  the  gov- 
ernor; he  was  to  make  friends  with  Vige  Laem, 
in  order,  by  favourable  opportunity,  to  entice 
him  away  from  his  duty. 

He  carried  out  this  plan  by  hanging  about 
under  the  prison  walls  with  Vige  Laem,  sur- 
rounded by  a  flock  of  idle  island  folk. 

He  boasted  to  them  all  of  what  he  had  seen 
in  the  warm  seas  of  the  south,  where  birds  and 
fish  and  swollen  corpses  from  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  burned,  so  that  smoke  and  red  flames  licked 
the  keel  of  the  ship.  And  on  shore  it  was  still 
worse.  The  wild  huzzies  of  the  African  coast 
ate  men's  fingers  like  the  roes  of  fish.  And  their 
kisses  burned  hotter  than  the  many-coloured 


196  THE  GOVERNOR 

jelly-fish  on  the  surface  of  the  water  that  are 
nothing  but  burning  slime.  He  had  lost  three 
fingers  of  his  left  hand.  But  if,  by  the  help  of 
the  Most  High  and  a  good  wind,  he  should  re- 
turn once  more  to  Holland,  it  would  not  be  long 
before  he  again  sailed  southwards,  even  if  they 
should  devour  all  the  fingers  of  his  right  hand, 
too. 

The  ignorant  women  swallowed  his  words 
with  delight,  looked  at  their  fingers  and  his 
crippled  hand,  and  laid  down  their  infants  in  the 
heather. 

Thamis  went  guilelessly  to  Klitgaard  and  an- 
nounced that  the  week  had  now  passed,  and  that 
he  must  sail  if  he  did  not  wish  to  be  set  in  the 
stocks  by  the  angry  merchants.  Runow  bar- 
gained with  him  for  six  days  more,  and  Thamis7 
demands  increased. 

It  was  probably  wiser  to  remain  quietly  on 
board  his  ship,  and  avoid  intercourse  with  the 
island  folk. 

And  he  did  so;  but  he  leaned  over  the  side  of 
the  ship  and  played  upon  a  flute,  and  all  the 
women  came  running  to  the  strand.  The  sweet 


THE  GOVERNOR  197 

music  delighted  their  ears.  They  began  sud- 
denly to  make  their  nets  with  ardour,  to  collect 
stones,  and  make  tar  for  the  boats. 

But  the  watch  over  Kaina  was  not  relaxed. 

The  next  time  Thamis  screwed  the  price  up 
five-fold,  for  now  he  might  as  well  throw  the 
beautiful  Delft  ware  overboard  to  the  fishes — it 
was  too  late  for  the  June  market  in  Elsinore, 
according  to  the  contract. 

For  such  a  price  five  ships  without  other  com- 
mission or  cargo  could  have  been  obtained  from 
Holland. 

That  might  be,  said  Thamis,  but  one  did  not 
care  to  lend  one's  self  to  secrecy — and  his,  at  any 
rate,  was  not  cheap. 

Towards  evening  he  was  to  come  and  learn 
the  decision  of  the  judge.  And  he  slouched 
along  to  his  friend  Vige  Laem.  The  latter  was 
in  the  act  of  cleaning  out  the  prison,  as  it  was 
his  habit  to  do  once  a  year,  but  Thamis  might 
enter  if  his  nose  were  not  too  sensitive.  He 
had  not  yet  seen  the  girl  for  whom  so  much  was 
at  stake.  When  he  had  occasionally  peeped  in 
she  had  always  lain  with  her  face  hidden  in  a 


198  THE  GOVERNOR 

forest  of  black  locks  that  surrounded  her  like 
coai-smoKe. 

Would  she  instantly  get  up  and  bid  good-day 
to  Master  Thamis  of  Rotterdam?  She  stood 
up,  with  both  hands  before  her  face.  Thamis 
pulled  them  away  and  examined  the  girl  with 
half-shut  eyes,  until  she  was  uneasy  down  to  the 
soles  of  her  feet.  He  took  her  softly  around  the 
neck  with  the  two  remaining  ringers  of  his  left 
hand,  and  it  seemed  to  her  as  if  ants  were  creep- 
ing under  her  skin. 

Vige  Laem  thrust  his  pitchfork  into  the  firm 
crust  that  loosened  itself  with  a  fearful  stench. 
Not  for  a  barrel  of  fat  Flemish  herrings  would 
he  have  anything  to  do  with  this  yellow  monster; 
she  was  spiteful,  and  scratched  with  fingers  and 
toes  worse  than  the  woman  in  the  neighbouring 
hut  when  one  came  too  near  her!  And  yellow 
into  the  bargain — as  if  she  had  been  soaked  in 
oil  and  smoked  in  the  chimney. 

See,  see — the  little  thing,  the  smooth  monkey! 
Thamis  gently  separated  her  jaws;  her  mouth 
was  red  right  down  to  the  gullet.  Well,  he 
would  soon  have  her  on  board.  But  now  Vige 


THE  GOVERNOR  199 

Laem  had  finished  his  work,  and  might  permit 
himself  a  game  of  dice. 

But  on  the  same  evening  Thamis  presented 
himself  at  Klitgaard  and  was  far  more  pliable 
than  before. 

He  promised  to  remain  lying  off  the  island 
until  the  gracious  lord  could  collect  the 
wretched  money.  As  now,  in  any  case,  his  cargo 
was  lost  there  was  not  so  much  haste  to  return 
to  Holland.  According  to  his  promise,  he 
would  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  sail  night  or 
day.  He  would  stake  his  life  on  it  that  the  girl 
should  be  carried  safely  on  board  and  there 
watched  over  and  shielded  like  his  own 
daughter. 

Thus  a  fresh  respite  was  obtained.  Whilst 
the  sentence  was  not  yet  made  known,  and  whilst 
Brigitte  was  not  at  Klitgaard  there  was  still 
time. 

But  Runow  had  not  the  money  that  Thamis 
demanded.  He  could  not  dig  it  out  of  the  earth, 
neither  could  he  cut  it  out  of  his  flesh — he  did 
not  believe  in  the  fable  of  selling  his  soul  to  the 
devil  or  he  would  long  since  have  forfeited  it 


200  THE  GOVERNOR 

His  conscience  ate  into  his  soul  like  a  loath- 
some moth  of  which  he  longed  to  be  free.  But 
he  could  as  easily  rid  himself  of  the  needs  of 
his  body  as  of  his  thoughts. 

When  he  was  alone  he  cursed  his  cowardice, 
yet  that  cowardice  was  not  the  result  of  physical 
weakness,  but  of  an  unsound  mind.  For  care 
and  terror  were,  in  reality,  no  worse  than  evil 
dreams.  If  one  but  trod  straight  forward  and 
slept  on  the  right  side  one  need  fear  neither 
dreams  nor  terror. 

Jacob  could  help,  Jacob  must  help.  He  found 
him  occupied  in  healing  a  cut  arm.  His  fingers 
carefully  felt  in  the  deep,  bleeding  wound  to 
find  the  severed  tendons  and  tie  them  together. 
Runow  was  forced  to  shut  his  eyes  and  lean 
against  the  door-post.  For  the  moment  Jacob 
had  no  time  to  spare;  the  arm  must  first  be 
bound  up. 

Softly  and  soothingly — in  tender  words  like 
those  with  which  Runow  had  hunted  Kaina  out 
on  the  night  when  she  bore  her  child — Jacob 
answered  that  he  would  rather  give  his  liying 
heart  to  be  devoured  by  swine  than  sacrifice  the 


THE  GOVERNOR  201 

little  that  he  had  earned  in  many  years  of 
sweating. 

But  Runow  did  not  cease  to  plead.  There 
were  soon  no  words  that  he  had  not  dragged  out 
and  whispered  and  cooed  to  Jacob.  Disgust 
seized  him  for  his  own  speech  and  its  impo- 
tence, but  still  he  sought  other  words,  and  still 
others.  He  must  find  the  one  that  would  per- 
suade Jacob. 

Could  he  not  find  it — 


The  day  and  hour  of  Kaina's  execution  were 
now  written  in  chalk  on  the  barn-door.  There 
was  a  crowd  before  it,  for  every  one  wanted  to 
see  the  white  marks — very  few  could  understand 
them. 

The  pyre  should  be  elegantly  decorated  with 
red  heather  and  green  twigs,  fine  as  if  with  flow- 
ered upholstery  I 

And  God  grant  that  the  sun  might  shine  that 
day,  and  that  the  rain  might  not  fall ! 

Joyous  expectation  reigned  everywhere,  as  be- 
fore Whitsuntide  and  St.  John's  Eve. 

The  highest  court  of  the  kingdom  had  sup- 
ported the  verdict  of  Dyre  Funder  and  the  judge 
of  the  island.  The  decision  was  made  known 
to  both,  but  Dyre  Funder  requested  a  postpone- 
ment of  twelve  days,  as  he  was  at  present  pre- 
vented from  coming,  but  would  greatly  like  to 
see  the  sentence  carried  out. 


202 


THE  GOVERNOR  203 

In  addition,  the  flesh  of  the  wolf-fish  was  par- 
ticularly good  in  early  summer. 

Runow's  forehead  was  as  empty  of  thoughts 
as  a  stone  is  of  corn.  He  felt  a  soft,  secret  buzz- 
ing in  his  head.  He  listened  to  see  whether  it 
might  not  be  the  saving  counsel — but  he  could 
not  find  it.  He  even  spoke  very  softly  at  this 
time  and  could  bear  no  noise.  He  turned  with 
incontrollable  fury  upon  every  one  who  looked 
at  him. 

Silence  reigned  at  Klitgaard  as  if  a  corpse  lay 
in  every  room. 

The  brothers  spoke  together  no  more. 

Runow  had  sent  an  urgent  messenger  to  Bri- 
gitte,  begging  her  to  come  at  once  if  she  were 
at  Lunegaard.  He  was  partly  driven  to  it  by 
terror,  partly  by  dullness. 

If  only  he  might  hear  Brigitte's  tickling 
laughter  in  every  corner  the  horror  would  lose 
its  power  over  him.  If  only  she  were  with  him 
he  would  take  her  hands,  and  the  strength  of  her 
mind,  her  will  and  her  love,  would  pass  from  her 
blood  into  his.  Never  more  would  he  let  her  go. 

Now  that  the  day  was  fixed,  fear  seized  him 


204  THE  GOVERNOR 

lest  Brigitte  should  not  reach  the  island  in  time. 
She  surely  would  not  come  with  empty  hands, 
surely  not!  Should  she  be  leaving  Liinegaard 
for  a  year  and  a  day  she  would  herself  take 
charge  of  her  money. 

But,  thereupon,  he  vowed  that  he  would  not 
touch  a  farthing,  though  she  should  bring  with 
her  the  hundred-fold  of  what  Thamis  demanded. 
This  he  swore. 

Jacob  rowed  alone  in  a  boat  out  into  the  deep 
sea.  Temptation  had  assailed  him. 

He  understood  Kama's  deadly  terror,  he  knew 
how  Runow  suffered. 

But  Thamis  did  nothing  but  stroll  about  the 
prison  cell  and  play  to  Kaina  on  the  flute. 

She  should  be  broken  and  burned  sooner  than 
fall  a  victim  to  his  lust. 

This  was  Jacob's  melancholy  decision. 

He  let  his  oars  drop.  It  was  deep  out  here  and 
there  was  no  bottom  to  be  seen.  Whatever  might 
be  buried  here  would  be  hidden  from  all,  in- 
cluding himself. 

He  let  the  gold  glide  through  his  ringers  be- 
fore the  deep  swallowed  it. 


THE  GOVERNOR  20$ 

With  it  he  might  purchase  her  life — with  it 
he  might  purchase  her  body  for  Thamis  of 
Rotterdam. 

He  leaned  over  the  side  of  the  boat,  no  ground 
could  be  seen  at  all,  only  bluish-black  rippling 
water. 

And  then  he  turned  homewards. 

His  gold  was  dear  to  him  as  the  light  of  his 
eyes. 

But  in  the  Seven-Isles  trunk  it  was  not  safe 

from  Runow. 

******** 

The  pyre  was  set  up  with  greater  care  than 
the  bridal-bed  of  the  Laeso  peasants.  Each  one 
contributed  his  mite,  and  was  happy  in  thereby 
assuring  himself  in  an  easy  manner  from  light- 
ning and  pestilence  the  whole  year  round. 

They  came  from  all  quarters  as  to  the  Kir- 
mess.  Damp  wood  was  surrounded  with  dry, 
dried  stumps  with  green  branches.  Turf  was 
dug  out  in  circles  from  under  the  heather,  and 
twigs  stuffed  into  all  the  spaces  so  that  there 
might  be  equal  quantities  of  flames  and  smoke, 


206  THE  GOVERNOR 

that  the  spectacle  might  be  a  prolonged  and  a 
joyous  one. 

The  executioner's  boys  stamped  out  in  the 
centre  a  hole  for  the  stake.  It  was  only  to  be 
erected  at  dawn. 

But  the  young  huzzies  who  still  slept  alone 
and  called  themselves  virgins,  ran  to  the  wood 
and  sought  out  a  tree  that  had  been  felled  by 
the  storm  and  that  seemed  to  them  sufficiently 
slender  to  form  the  stake. 

They  hoisted  it  onto  their  shoulders,  and  al- 
together, side  by  side,  they  carried  it  to  Klit- 
gaard  and  laid  it  across  the  stream,  where  it  was 
cleared  of  bark  and  branches.  Then,  forming  a 
long  chain,  they  ran  to  collect  wild  rosemary 
and  broom,  grass,  and  heathery  dune-straw  and 
house-leek,  to  wind  about  the  pole  as  if  it  were 
a  May-tree. 

Every  maid  tore  out  a  tress  of  her  hair  and 
wound  it  in  with  the  rest,  that  lust  might  not  burn 
her  nor  men  run  after  her  by  night. 

On  the  tip  were  bound  three  cows'  tails  to 
ware  like  white  pennants  in  the  breeze. 


THE  GOVERNOR  207 

This  was  in  accordance  with  ancient  island 
rite. 

Kaina  would  be  bound  to  the  stake  below  tfie 
breast,  not  so  fast  but  that  head  and  limbs  might 
defend  themselves  and  struggle  against  the 
flames. 

The  pyre  was  erected  in  front  of  the  windows 
of  the  hall  of  justice,  the  bailiff  declared  it  to 
be  suitable,  the  girls  again  lifted  it  on  to  their 
shoulders  and  carried  it  to  the  foot  of  the  scaf- 
fold-mount. 


The  morning  broke,  and  Runow  had  slept. 
But  in  his  dreams  the  deed  had  been  accom- 
plished not  once,  but  seventy  times  over. 

He  awoke  with  a  taste  of  blood  on  his  tongue, 
and  scars  upon  his  hands.  He  had  to  lean 
against  the  bed-post  to  meet  the  day  and  to  real- 
ize that  it  had  really  come  and  that  he  was  not 
dreaming. 

Blood,  blood — and  the  taste  of  it  upon  his 
tongue  I 

Now  he  remembered  everything. 

Cowardice  and  will  together  governed  him, 
so  that  in  his  dreams  he  had  bitten  his  tongue 
that  it  might  keep  silence,  his  hands  that  they 
might  be  still  and  not  grasp  at  Kaina  to  tear  her 
from  the  pyre. 

Unconsciously  he  began  to  recite  the  sentence 
from  beginning  to  end,  in  a  loud  voice,  as  if  he 
were  standing  before  all  the  people. 

His  lips  must  read  it  and  not  Dyre  Funder's. 

208 


THE  GOVERNOR  209 

But  it  was  early  morning,  a  still,  clear  morn- 
ing, and  outside  in  the  courtyard  the  cock  was 
crowing.  Nothing  was  as  yet  accomplished, 
there  was  still  time,  the  miracle  might  still 
happen. 

Runow  glanced  curiously  at  his  hands.  So 
that  was  how  they  looked — the  hands  that  had 
set  name  and  seal  under  the  sentence,  soft  and 
round. 

Under  his  gaze  they  clenched  themselves  as  if 
they  knew  their  guilt.  There  were  the  bloody 
wounds — he  wanted  to  wash  them  off,  but  then 
he  remembered  the  day  when  Kaina  had  stood 
at  the  pump  and  poured  water  over  her  right 
hand.  He  rubbed  them  with  coarse  linen  and 
held  them  in  the  sun  and  tried  to  force  them  to  be 
still,  but  they  continued  to  tremble. 

It  seemed  as  if  they  were  only  awaiting  an 
occasion  to  give  him  the  slip — but  the  tendons 
were  surely  strong  enough  to  hold  them  back! 
A  furious  hatred  filled  him  for  the  cowardly 
hands.  He  would  have  liked  to  trample  upon 
them ;  and  that  reminded  him  of  the  pain  he  had 
felt  when  the  letter  burned  to  ashes  in  his  palm. 


210  THE  GOVERNOR 

He  measured  the  height  of  the  sun.  When  it 
had  traversed  the  short  curve  from  Tarben's 
empty  hut  to  the  roof  of  Klitgaard,  all  living 
things  must  be  silent — the  leaves  on  the  trees, 
the  flight  of  the  wind — whilst  the  executioner 
broke  her  tender  limbs  and  bound  her  on  the 
pyre,  whilst  the  flames  ran  through  the  wiry 
heather  and  licked  the  soles  of  her  feet,  ran  up 
her  breast  to  her  brown  cheeks;  whilst  her  cry 
rang  over  the  whole  island  and  rilled  the  air 
together  with  countless  sparks  of  fire. 

And  if  all  the  winds  of  the  earth  should  blow 
upon  the  island  her  ashes  would  never  be  scat- 
tered, her  cry  would  never  be  silenced. 

No,  no — nothing  had  happened  yet,  there  was 
still  time!  His  brain  was  tormented,  plan  after 
plan  formed  itself — one  pressing  upon  the  other. 

Old  Ture  summoned  him  to  table,  Dyre  Fun- 
der  had  come.  But  Runow  dressed  himself  first 
in  his  holiday  clothes.  The  clothes  offered  him 
a  welcome  shelter,  a  covering  for  the  terror  of 
his  body — but  his  face  was  still  bare  and  his 
hands;  uncovered  before  the  eyes  of  all. 

No  one  must  notice  his  uneasiness. 


THE  GOVERNOR  211 

He  sat  down  and  watched  how  Dyre  Funder's 
jaws  crunched  his  food.  He  himself  chewed  and 
swallowed  and  talked  until  he  at  last  discovered 
that  he  had  not  yet  taken  a  single  bite  into  his 
mouth. 

Then  he  ate,  and  the  food  tasted  good. 

Afterwards,  Dyre  Funder  went  to  rest  him- 
self for  a  while,  for  it  was  a  very  hot  day. 

The  time  was  passing,  but  it  must  not  pass  ac- 
cording to  its  own  sweet  will,  it  must  stand  still. 
Runow  began  to  count  the  lost  minutes,  pulled 
the  hand  from  the  clock  and  broke  it. 

Time  must  stand  still,  the  sun  must  stand  still, 
as  once  in  earlier  days — over  Gideon,  over 
Gideon? 

He  grasped  at  empty  air  and  crooked  his  fin- 
gers. Now  he  had  time  fast. 

Then  he  heard  an  evil,  creaking  sound. 

Ture  was  in  the  yard  splitting  wood,  no  doubt 
to  be  used  for  baking.  He  turned  towards  the 
other  side.  The  dung-pit  gleamed  in  the  sun  in 
front  of  the  exuding  elms  like  a  beehive  sur- 
rounded by  its  bees. 


212  THE  GOVERNOR 

The  executioner's  youngsters  ran  past  with  a 
last  load  of  purple  heather. 

But  the  noise  that  had  struck  harshly  on  his 
ears? 

It  was  jacob.  He  stood  by  the  grindstone, 
sharpening  the  narrow  knife  that  he  used  for 
his  patients. 

Runow  looked  side-ways  at  Jacob,  Jacob  at 
Runow.  Then  Runow  went  out,  for  now  he 
knew  what  to  do. 

There  was  still  time  to  buy  Thamis. 

He  passed  through  the  narrow  chambers  to 
the  east  turret  where  stood  Jacob's  chest.  He 
tried  to  loosen  the  iron  bands  with  a  knife,  but 
he  found  that  an  axe  would  be  necessary.  He 
lifted  it  wildly  as  if  against  one  who  defended 
himself. 

The  bands  sprang,  the  nails  fell  out.  He  al- 
most broke  his  fingers  in  opening  the  chest. 

But  at  last  it  was  open. 

He  pulled  everything  out,  silk,  feathers,  lace, 
dagger-sheaths — but  there  was  no  silver  and  no 
gold,  either. 

Then  he  noticed  that  tears  were  running  from 


THE  GOVERNOR  213 

his  eyes,  he  heard  his  lips  murmur  a  paternoster 
• — half-way  through.  He  would  have  left  the 
room — and  ran  against  Jacob. 

They  looked  each  other  in  the  face. 

"Wouldst  thou  know  where  it  is  hidden — that 
which  thou  art  so  eagerly  seeking?"  asked  Jacob. 

"It  is  well  guarded — I  hid  it  under  the  bell 
beside  the  child  thou  hadst  conceived  with  herl" 

Runow  started  back.  Jacob  continued,  "Un- 
der the  bell,  Runow — now  thou  knowest  it.  And 
only  thou  canst  know  whether  it  is  safe  there!" 

Jacob  was  wise. 

It  suddenly  seemed  to  Runow  that  he  had  for- 
gotten how  to  read.  Not  a  letter  could  he  re- 
member, and  yet  he  must  needs  read  the  sentence. 
He  took  it  up,  but  was  tired  and  dull,  and  only 
wished  to  sleep. 

Outside  some  one  passed  along  the  wall,  now 
there  were  two.  A  light  murmur  arose.  More 
and  more  came.  Were  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
island  surrounding  Klitgaard  to  see  him  start 
for  the  place  of  justice? 

Some  one  scratched  at  the  door,  meekly,  un- 
certainly, as  if  with  withered  fingers.  Arnlys' 


214  THE  GOVERNOR 

daughter  entered  with  Tarben's  old  father.  They 
came  to  announce  that  the  Dutch  schooner  had 
sailed  that  morning.  The  evening  before  Mas- 
ter Thamis  of  Rotterdam  had  quarrelled  with 
Vige  Laem  and  the  others  outside  the  prison, 
and  had  so  shamelessly  slandered  the  highest  of 
the  island  that  if  he  had  had  his  deserts  he  must 
have  been  fastened  to  the  ring  which  would  be 
free  at  noon.  But  at  dawn  he  had  sailed,  and 
was  now  out  of  sight. 

Runow  knew  well  that  they  were  come  to 
watch  his  face,  and  he  stared  so  fiercely  into  Poul 
Finken's  eyes  that  he  was  obliged  to  hang  his 
head.  In  the  door  he  lisped,  insinuatingly, 
"Kaina  starts  grandly  from  the  court,  and  with 
a  great  following!" 

Runow  clenched  his  hands  that  he  might  not 
falter.  They  turned  their  backs  and  went  out 
without  another  word. 

Ah,  now!  ah,  now! — 

The  "poor  sinner"  bell  was  tolling  from  the 
loft  of  the  Burum  chapel.  The  respite  was  at  an 
end — at  an  end. 

A  fly  buzzed  about  Runow's  nose,  it  must  die. 


THE  GOVERNOR  215 

Life  for  life.  What  was  its  pitiful  life  in  com- 
parison with  Kaina's?  Ah,  no,  only  not  hers, 
only  not  hers!  But  the»fly — it  must  die,  at  any 
rate.  He  struck  with  the  palm  of  his  hand 
against  the  beam  and  the  fly  disappeared  in  the 
sticky  soot. 

Why  could  not  the  people  come  in  to  see  how 
he  had  killed  the  fly? 

He  threw  himself  down  upon  his  face,  bit 
into  the  planks  of  the  floor,  scratched  in  the  black 
joints,  prayed  the  earth  to  swallow  him.  No 
power  should  force  him  to  the  seat  of  justice. 
His  tongue  would  rot  away  if  it  must  read  the 
sentence. 

He  ran  about  distractedly  to  find  a  rope, 
knotted  it  into  twenty  nooses,  bound  himself 
tightly  to  the  bed-post  and  stuffed  a  handker- 
chief into  his  mouth. 

Jacob  came  and  called  him  out  to  his  duty. 
The  procession  was  formed  and  only  waiting 
for  him.  Jacob  took  the  handkerchief  out  of 
his  mouth  and  loosened  the  noose  from  his  neck. 

Did  he  wish  all  the  people  to  call  him  a 
coward? 


216  THE  GOVERNOR 

Runow  wept,  with  his  arms  about  Jacob's 
neck. 

Now  he  knew  what  he  would  do.  He  would 
read  aloud  the  sentence  before  all  the  people  so 
that  it  rang  through  the  air,  and  then — Kaina 
should  not  stand  alone  upon  the  pyre. 

Already  he  felt  the  flames  pass  from  her  hair 
to  his,  and  felt  them  eating  through  his  skull. 

Only  his  fingers  shook  with  fear. 

For  a  little  while  he  worked  up  his  courage, 
then  all  fear  had  left  him.  He  took  the  written 
sentence  and,  throwing  his  mantle  over  him  de- 
spite the  warmth  of  the  day,  went  out. 

The  coach  awaited  him.  Dyre  Funder  was 
stretched  out  in  it  with  sleepy  eyes.  Runow 
glanced  calmly  over  the  many  faces  that  were 
turned  to  him,  took  his  place  beside  Jacob  and 
gave  an  order  to  the  driver. 

His  hands  rested  peacefully  on  his  knees,  he 
was  glad  to  see  the  sky  so  blue. 

The  coach  rolled  away  from  Klitgaard  and 
joined  the  cart  that  stood  before  the  prison. 

The  procession  wound  slowly  along  the  sandy 
road  to  the  hill  of  execution,  a  low,  desolate  rise 


THE  GOVERNOR  217 

in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Hornfisher  huts  and 
the  great  salt-pans. 

Next  to  them  hobbled  Germund  and  Idel, 
hand-in-hand,  and  they  wept  all  the  way.  Be- 
hind them,  close  to  the  cart,  danced  the  children 
of  Arnlys.  Their  tongues  did  not  rest.  They 
threw  rotten  fish  at  Kaina.  The  smallest  was 
carefully  carrying  a  closed  pitcher. 

She  pressed  close  to  Kaina  and  asked, 
maliciously: 

"Art  thou  thirsty? — then  drink  from  our  sweet 
mother's  mug!" 

Kaina  did  not  move.  Her  hands  were  bound 
fast  on  her  back,  but  otherwise  she  wore  no 
fetters. 

Then  the  child  tore  the  cover  from  the  jug, 
intending  to  throw  its  contents  into  her  face,  but 
old  Idel  struck  it  and  the  red  mass  poured  over 
the  child  herself,  so  that  she  broke  out  into  a 
howl. 

It  was  full  of  ants. 

The  fat  women  opened  their  chemises  at  the 
neck,  but  their  heads  were  so  covered  up  that 
only  teeth  and  noses  were  visible. 


218  THE  GOVERNOR 

Beggars  and  cripples  crept  along  with  the  rest, 
pensive  and  joyous — for  afterwards  there  would 
be  hot  fish  in  every  hut. 

The  short  distance  appeared  long  in  the  in- 
tense heat. 

By  the  hill  of  execution  Arnlys'  children 
joined  hands — except  the  youngest,  who  still 
howled  and  shook  herself.  The  crowd  looked 
on  and  formed  a  chain. 

In  a  three-fold  circle  they  danced  around  the 
pyre  and  the  executioner,  the  cart  and  the  coach. 
It  was  impossible  to  distinguish  a  separate  note 
from  their  unanimous  yells.  The  executioner's 
youngster  played  on  his  clarionet. 

A  suckling  bit  its  mother  in  the  breast  so  that 
she  screamed  out.  The  air  was  perfectly  still, 
not  a  breeze  was  blowing.  The  three  white  cows' 
tails  hung  limply  on  the  stake. 

Kaina  looked  down  at  her  lap. 

Now  and  then  a  shudder  ran  through  her  body, 
and  she  moaned  softly.  The  executioner  unfast- 
ened her  hands.  There  was  silence  all  around, 
a  moment  of  breathless  silence. 


THE  GOVERNOR  219 

The  bleating  of  a  sheep  in  the  distance  sounded 
like  a  loud  noise. 

Now  Kaina  raised  her  eyes  for  the  first  time, 
and  met  those  of  Runow.  It  was  as  if  she  awoke 
from  heavy  stupefaction  to  bewildering  happi- 
ness. It  was  as  if  Runow  took  her  into  his  arms 
and  shielded  her  from  the  angry,  evil  people. 

With  a  laugh  as  clear  as  sunlight  she 
looked  across  their  ranks.  She  looked  at  her 
nails  that  were  long  as  claws.  She  combed  her 
hair  with  her  fingers,  but  it  curled  about  her 
head  in  stiff  black  ringlets,  blacker  than  pitch. 

Suddenly  she  became  ashamed  of  the  prison 
dirt  and  drew  her  bare  legs  under  her.  And  she 
sat  there  rocking  the  upper  part  of  her  body  to 
and  fro  and  smiling.  Once  more  her  eyes  had 
met  those  of  Runow. 

He  hesitated,  half  intoxicated  with  sweet  and 
distant  memories.  Thick  mists  seemed  to  rise 
within  him  and  to  surge  about  him,  and  fine, 
pricking  rain  to  fall  inside  his  brain. 

The  executioner  toyed  impatiently  with  his 
tools. 


220  THE  GOVERNOR 

Runow  rose.  He  staggered  as  if  shaken  by  a 
violent  shuddering — and  then  stood  upright. 

He  turned  his  eyes  away  from  Kaina,  looked 
down  at  the  paper  and  read.  His  clear,  soft 
voice  could  be  heard  far  away.  The  paper 
shook,  for  his  hands  trembled. 

Kaina  followed  him,  murmuring  each  word 
after  him  as  he  read.  The  smile  died  slowly  on 
her  lips. 

At  last! 

The  clarionet  blared  again,  and  the  crowd  hur- 
rahed. The  executioner  turned  to  Kaina,  cover- 
ing her  with  his  back. 

At  that  instant  Runow  recollected  how  damna- 
bly it  had  hurt  when  Brigitte  pressed  the  burn- 
ing paper  into  his  hand. 

Kaina  screamed  for  the  first  time. 

Runow  did  not  move  from  the  spot  where  he 
was  seated,  and  he  did  not  look  up  until  all  was 
at  an  end. 

During  this  time  Jacob  had  distracted  himself 
by  boring  his  sharp  knife  through  his  hand. 


Runow  had  tamed  his  hands,  tamed  them  by 
biting  his  fingers  when  they  would  not  obey  him. 
They  no  longer  trembled,  but  were  like  intelli- 
gent, well-trained  animals,  perfectly  submissive 
to  his  will.  He  lifted  them  towards  the  sun,  let 
them  dance  upon  the  surface  of  the  table, 
clenched  them  tightly,  stroked  them  carefully — 
they  no  longer  trembled. 

But  if  he  sat  a  while  in  the  hall  of  justice  and 
forgot  to  pay  attention  to  his  thought  and  will, 
his  hands  would  slip  from  him  so  helplessly  that 
the  tendons  had  no  power  to  command  them 
again,  try  as  he  would.  His  whole  body  was 
bathed  in  sweat  as  if  every  pore  had  burst.  It 
seemed  to  him  in  his  terror  that  the  life-blood, 
fearful  of  his  misery,  was  trickling  from  his 
veins,  and  that  he  must  bleed  to  death. 

If  some  one  did  not  quickly  pass  him  a  drink 
he  would  fall  together,  and  lie  with  snapping 
jaws,  like  a  dog  in  a  fit.  Jacob  would  then  be 


221 


222  THE  GOVERNOR 

summoned  and  would  pour  jugs  of  cold  water 
over  him  until  he  once  more  became  calm. 

He  had  tamed  his  hands,  but  his  eyes  would 
not  let  themselves  be  controlled. 

In  that  hour  of  noon,  when  the  flames  of 
Kama's  pyre  rose  high  into  the  sunshine  his  eyes 
had  absorbed  so  much  glaring  light  that  they 
were  blinded  as  if  by  lightning.  On  the  follow- 
ing morning  he  had  noticed  that  they  blinked 
and  shifted  about  like  the  sails  of  a  wind-mill, 
and  could  not  bear  the  light  of  day,  nor  the  sun, 
nor  the  gaze  of  a  human  being. 

He  tried  in  vain  to  fix  them  upon  his  mirror, 
they  still  glanced  away  and  aside.  In  vain  he 
opened  them  wide,  they  contracted  morbidly. 

Jacob  gave  him  ointment  for  the  eyelids,  but 
he  remained  equally  shy  of  the  sun  and  of  men's 
glances.  Then  Jacob  had  to  cut  him  a  green 
cardboard  shade  which  he  wore  ever  after. 

Yet  neither  shade  nor  smarting  ointment,  nor 
even  the  darkness  of  the  night,  could  banish  the 
faces  that  haunted  him. 

And  although  he  rubbed  his  nostrils  with 


THE  GOVERNOR  223 

onions  and  with  perfumed  water  he  could  not 
rid  them  of  the  stench  of  burning. 

A  little  later  he  went  and  complained  to  Jacob 
that  his  ears  pained  him  like  hollow  teeth.  The 
air  sang  in  them  as  if  in  a  mill,  there  was  also 
a  harsh  noise  like  that  of  a  knife  upon  a  grind- 
stone. 

Kama's  five  screams  of  agony  sounded  in  them 
ceaselessly. 

Jacob  warmed  oil  and  poured  it  into  his  ears 
so  that  he  sprang  about  in  pain.  Then  they  were 
stopped  with  cotton-wool  that  no  sound  of  the 
air  might  enter  them. 

Soon  he  was  demanding,  angrily,  that  every 
one  should  shout  aloud  so  that  he  might  hear 
their  voices. 

If  he  believed  himself  unobserved  he  slunk 
over  from  Klitgaard  to  the  ruins  of  the  church. 
The  bell  drew  him. 

But  his  own  restless  shadow  followed  him. 
He  feared  it,  he  heard  its  footsteps.  He  hunted 
it  away,  stoned  it,  covered  it  with  sand-grass, 
enticed  it  far  out  into  the  marsh — in  vain,  in 


224  THE  GOVERNOR 

vain ;  it  clung  to  him,  as  the  tongue  cleaves  to  the 
gullet. 

He  would  approach  the  bell  until  he  could 
hear  the  fine  trickling  of  the  sand  under  it.  He 
longed  to  touch  with  his  hands  the  cold,  sound- 
ing metal.  But  he  dared  not  go  close  to  it. 

Round  about  the  bell  he  went  so  often  and  so 
long  that  there  was  a  circle  in  the  sand  where  he 
had  trodden. 

Words  would  close  his  throat  like  thirst — he 
had  to  do  violence  to  his  voice  to  prevent  it  from 
whispering  what  filled  his  thoughts.  He  had 
vowed  to  himself  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
island  should  atone  bitterly  for  Kaina's  death. 
Their  hands,  their  will,  had  led  her  to  the  pyre, 
and  not  his.  Especially  Arnlys'  children  should 
atone,  all  five  of  them.  It  was  they  who  had  led 
the  dance  around  the  mound  of  execution. 

Thus  it  happened  that  he  one  day  encountered 
the  little  girl  with  a  stick  of  lead  in  her  hands. 
He  accused  her  of  having  stolen  it  from  the  ruins 
of  the  church.  But  she  denied  it,  and  her  four 
brothers  with  her.  In  spite  of  this  he  had  their 
ears  cut  with  the  shears,  like  sheep,  the  little 


THE  GOVERNOR  225 

girl's  right  ear  was  cut  off  entirely.  Thenceforth 
they  would  go  about  branded  as  thieves,  the  mark 
could  never  be  washed  out. 

He  was  seized  with  a  sudden  horror  of  water; 
he  could  not  take  it  into  his  mouth  without  think- 
ing of  the  pond  and  the  child  in  the  shoal  of  carp. 
Yet  he  was  always  plagued  with  thirst  since  the 
smoke  of  Kaina's  pyre  had  entered  his  throat. 
The  sweet,  warm  milk  of  the  cows  tasted  so  good 
that  more  than  once  he  drew  it  himself  from  their 
full  udders.  But  when,  after  a  night's  dream,  he 
remembered  what  he  had  half  forgotten,  that  the 
ashes  of  Kaina's  dainty  body  were  strewed  over 
every  field  and  meadow,  over  dune  and  heather 
—after  that  he  touched  neither  the  milk  nor  the 
flesh  of  any  animal  of  the  island. 

Only  the  fish  which  were  caught  in  deep  water, 
by  a  west  wind,  and  far  from  the  shore,  formed 
the  scanty  nourishment  of  his  body. 


A  boat  laden  with  trunks  filled  with  mantles, 
linen,  furs,  cushions  and  silver,  arrived  in  ad- 
vance with  the  news  that  Brigitte  would  soon 
be  there  with  a  troop  of  kinsfolk. 

All  the  rooms  were  prepared. 

Every  day  fresh  meat  was  hung  on  the  hooks, 
fresh  fish  laid  in  pickle,  and  dough  rolled  out 
for  rich  tarts. 

On  the  roof  of  Klitgaard  stood  a  keen-sighted 
man,  protected  from  the  sun,  whose  only  duty 
was  to  watch  for  the  boats.  Runow  himself  stood 
there  by  the  hour  gazing  from  under  his  shade 
far  out  into  the  distance. 

On  the  shore  stood  three  carriages  with  horses 
harnessed  to  them,  and  these  were  changed  so 
soon  as  they  grew  tired  of  standing.  The  bodies 
of  the  carriages,  woven  of  supple,  peeled  twigs, 
were  covered  with  white  ox-skins.  But  the  car- 
riage which  should  convey  the  bride  to  Klitgaard 

226 


THE  GOVERNOR  227 

was  lined  entirely  with  bags  of  eiderdown  sewn 
together. 

If  Brigitte  had  come  the  first  time  alone  and 
unexpected,  this  time  the  whole  island  should 
receive  her. 

And  she  came. 

With  her  were  so  many  von  Lindenows  that 
the  low-ceiled  rooms  of  Klitgaard  could  not  con- 
tain their  laughter,  that  rang  far  out  through  the 
walls.  The  hall  of  justice  had  to  be  used.  In 
it  the  pastor  Glob  united  Brigitte  and  Runow 
and  exhorted  them  to  be  fruitful,  laying  before 
them  also  other  virtues  pleasing  to  God  and  man. 

The  hall  grew  close  from  the  warmth  of  the 
sun  and  of  the  smoking  meats.  The  guests  gath- 
ered together  in  twos  and  fours,  each  one 
prattling  of  his  possessions. 

Brigitte's  earlier  marriage-feast  was  much  dis- 
cussed, and  not  softly. 

Runow  and  Brigitte  sat  side  by  side,  both  of 
them  silent.  She  held  her  head  high.  Her  long 
eyes  shone.  Every  nerve  was  strung  to  its  full 
pitch. 

She  sat  there  as  if  eternally  silent,  and  was  only 


228  THE  GOVERNOR 

conscious  of  the  pressure  of  Runow's  knee  against 
hers  through  the  velvet  of  her  robe.  She  held 
her  arms  crossed  upon  her  breast  to  subdue  its 
joyful  heaving  and  to  hide  it  from  the  eyes  of 
men. 

Runow  knew  nothing  of  it. 

At  the  window  stood  a  little  water-trough 
rilled  with  piled-up  aniseed-rolls.  That  was  all 
that  he  saw. 

The  guests  had  opened  the  trunks  of  docu- 
ments at  the  upper  end  of  the  hall.  Old  mar- 
riage-papers, abstracts  from  the  law-books,  sum- 
monses and  what-not,  were  spread  out  over  the 
table.  Each  had  taken  possession  of  a  document, 
followed  the  writing  with  his  finger,  and  spelled 
it  out.  As  the  trial-records  were  also  produced 
every  one  wished  to  know  what  sentences  had 
been  dealt  out,  during  the  last  year  of  grace,  upon 
the  flat  lands  of  Laeso. 

Mathias  Lindenow,  Brigitte's  uncle,  who  sat 
next  to  her,  seized  the  portfolio.  In  a  rough, 
vulgar  voice  he  read,  with  difficulty,  Dyre  Fun- 
der's  seven  hearings  of  the  maid  Kaina.  Bri- 
gitte  grew  impatient.  She  no  longer  dreamed 


THE  GOVERNOR  229 

now,  but  followed  the  lines  with  her  finger.  The 
sentence  was  written  in  Latin  letters.  Runow  was 
obliged  to  read  it. 

A  little  later  he  got  up  and  went  out,  not  notic- 
ing Brigitte,  who  followed  him.  In  the  brew- 
house  a  peacock  had  been  so  hastily  withdrawn 
from  the  fire  that  fat  and  meat  fell  into  the  ashes, 
and  a  burning  smell  arose.  The  flames  shot 
upwards. 

Runow  seized  the  water-jug  and  put  out  the 
fire  at  one  throw.  For  a  long  time  he  stood  draw- 
ing in  the  damp,  white  steam  that  mounted  from 
the  ashes,  then  he  ordered  the  servants  to  light 
another  fire  under  the  peacock  immediately. 

They  did  as  he  directed. 


When  Runow  found  himself,  later  on,  alone 
in  the  bed-chamber  with  Brigitte,  he  fancied,  in 
his  sick  imagination,  that  he  saw  sulphur-smoke 
stream  from  her  mouth  and  blue  flames  under 
her  skin,  and  her  breasts  seemed  to  him  like  the 
brown  scars  of  wounds. 

And  now  she  was  Kaina.  Her  feet  danced  and 
sprang  on  the  glowing  peat.  From  her  shattered 
arms  blood  dropped  on  to  his  hands.  He  thought 
that  he  was  embracing  her  before  the  eyes  of  all. 

But  she  screamed  in  his  embrace — and  it  was 
not  her  voice. 

Brigitte  freed  herself  from  his  arms,  she  feared 
for  her  life.  His  consciousness  returned  slowly, 
and  he  glanced  askance  at  her  from  under  his 
shade.  White  and  large  she  lay  there,  her  hair 
spread  out  for  his  cheek  to  rest  on. 

He  clutched  at  it,  hid  his  face  in  it,  and  fell 
asleep  at  once. 

Brigitte  watched. 

230 


THE  GOVERNOR  231 

One  thing  she  knew;  had  her  life  received  new 
life  at  that  moment  she  would  extinguish  it  with 
her  own  hands. 

Runow  gasped  for  air.  The  red  silk  cushion 
that  some  one  or  other  had  sewed  for  his  dreams 
lay  half  under  his  jaws. 

She  drew  it  carefully  away,  and  in  doing  so 
tore  the  fragile  stuff  in  two  so  that  Kaina's  lux- 
uriant black  hair  fell  over  his  face  and  neck. 

And  then  Brigitte  understood  much. 

She  rose  from  the  couch,  shivering  with  cold 
down  to  her  heels.  The  singing  in  her  blood  had 
grown  dumb. 

In  the  hall  of  justice  lay  three  drunken  guests. 
The  wine  from  overturned  jugs  soaked  their 
clothes  and  made  their  hair  and  beards  sticky. 
In  their  sleep  they  cried  aloud  and  laughed. 

Brigitte  sought  until  she  found  the  record  of 
the  trial,  and  she  read  it  through  to  the  end. 
Then  she  went  to  Jacob  and  sat  down  upon  the 
edge  of  his  bed.  From  him  she  heard  all. 

But  Brigitte  did  not  weep,  and  showed  no  sor- 
row. At  last  Jacob  asked  her,  hesitatingly, 


232  THE  GOVERNOR 

whether  she  meant  to  leave  Runow  now  that  she 
knew. 

She  answered,  "Not  even  if  he  should  drive 
me  away!" 

When  she  returned  to  their  chamber  Runow 

was  no  longer  there. 

******** 

He  lay  under  the  great  bell,  writhing  in  unrea- 
soning terror.  If  his  head  touched  the  sounding 
metal  the  walls  of  the  bell  began  to  murmur; 
Kama's  screams  of  agony  seemed  to  dwell  within 
it.  Wherever  he  stretched  out  his  hands  they 
touched  the  body  of  his  own  child. 

But  he  dared  not  escape,  for  here,  and  here 
only,  could  he  find  peace  from  inquisitive  eyes- 
peace  from  Brigitte's  greedy  lips. 

As  he  lay,  there  came  to  him  the  memory  of  his 
father  and  Hilleborg.  Trembling,  he  crouched 
closer  together. 

"Our  Father— Our  Father!"  He  could  get 
no  further. 

The  children  of  Arnlys  stood  round  about  the 
bell.  With  their  broad  nails  they  scratched  on 
the  metal.  It  seemed  to  him  that  he  could  hear 


THE  GOVERNOR  233 

the  executioner — as  at  that  noontide  hour — toy- 
ing impatiently  with  his  instruments. 

Softly  the  children  pressed  the  bell  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  loose  sand.  Their  bodies  covered 
the  opening  so  that  no  light  could  enter.  They 
heard  a  scratching  sound  from  within,  they 
scratched  again,  they  heard  a  cry  and  they  cried 
back,  laughing  to  one  another: 

"Now  we  will  smoke  the  fox  out!" 

They  pushed  a  bundle  of  heather  under  the 
opening,  set  it  on  fire,  and  pressed  the  bell  far- 
ther into  the  sand. 

Fine  smoke-wreaths  curled  about  it,  the  metal 
became  hot  to  the  touch. 

But  the  air  was  warm  and  pleasant  and  the  sun 
rose  soon  after. 


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had  greatness  thrust  upon  him,  much  to  the  discomfort  of 
himself  and  many  others,  makes  very  amusing  reading. 
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don show  the  quality  of  personal  observation. 
THE  UNBEARABLE  BASSINGTON.    By  H.  H.  Munro. 

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wonderful  match  of  the  season,  gets  deeply  in  debt,  and  even 
when  at  the  absolute  end  of  his  tether  fascinates  the  reader 
with  his  store  of  spontaneous  gaiety. 


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THE  COMPLETE  WORKS  OF 
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Septimus 

The  Usurper 

The  White  Dove 

The  Beloved  Vagabond 

The  Glory  of  Clementina 


Idols 

Derelicts 

Where  Love  Is 

Simon  the  Jester 

At  the  Gate  of  Samaria 

The  Morals  of  Marcus  Ordeyne 

Demagogue  and  Lady  Phayre  A  Study  in  Shadows 

The  Joyous  Adventures  of  Aristide  Pujol 
Stella  Maris 

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"The  successor  of  Du  Maurier  and  the  heir — along  with 
that  other  wise  man,  William  de  Morgan — of  the  mantle  of 
Thackeray."—  N.  Y.  Times 

"As  a  creator  of  characters,  lovable  and  human,  Mr.  Locke 
has  no  equal  writing  to-day." — Los  Angeles  Times 


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(Most  Recent  Translations) 
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THE  GODS  ARE  ATHIRST.    Translation  by  Alfred  Allinson. 
**M   deliriously  epicurean  picture  of  the  French  Revolution.     The 
hero  is  a  young  painter.    He  is  a  pure  idealist,  and  yet  becomes  one  of 
the  most  cruel,  relentless  figures  of  the  Revolutionary  tribunal.    A  thrill- 
ing chapter   deals  ^vith   street  scenes  just   before    the  assassination   of 
Marat,  "Ami  du  Peuple." 
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THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  JEAN  SERVIEN.    Translation  by 
Alfred  Allinson. 

***Jean  Servien,  son  of  a  bookbinder,  born  in  a  back-shop  in  the 
Rue  Notre-Dame  des  Champs,  began  at  an  early  age  to  live  a  most' 
interesting  life  of  adventure.  As  a  character-sketch,  this  is  one  of 
Anatole  France's  masterpieces. 

JOCASTA    AND    THE    FAMISHED    CAT.     Translation  by 
Agnes  Farley. 

***0f  the  many  volumes  of  fiction  written  by  Anatole  France, 
"Jocasta"  is  the  first  novel.  In  this,  as  in  all  his  writings,  his  work  is 
illuminated  with  style,  scholarship,  and  psychology. 

MY  FRIEND'S  BOOK.    Translation  by  James  L.  May. 

***This  volume  contains  the  reminiscences  of  Pierre  Nosierre,  the 
recollections  of  his  childhood's  days — isolated  pictures  that  stand  out  in 
bold  relief  from  the  vague,  mysterious  background  that  surrounds  them. 

THE  OPINIONS  OF  JEROME  COIGNARD.   Translation  by 
Mrs.  Wilfrid  Jackson. 

***The  readers  of  a  previous  book  by  Anatole  France,  "The  Merrie 
Tales  of  Jacques  Tournebroche,"  will  meet  a  familiar  character  in  this 
present  volume,  namely,  the  former  librarian  of  Monsiegneur  de  Seez, 
with  his  indulgent  wisdom  and  his  generous  scepticism,  so  mingled  with 
contempt  and  kindliness  for  man. 

ON    LIFE    AND    LETTERS     (Second  Series).     By  Anatole 
France.    Translation  by  A.  W.  Evans. 

"The  brilliant  series  of  essays  translated  under  the  title  of  'On  Life 
and  Letters'  shows  M.  France  as  a  writer  of  pungent  wit,  passionate 
intellectual  curiority,  superb   cultivation,  and  great  sympathy." — Provi- 
dence Journal. 
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A  powerful  tale  of  primitive  days,  describing  life  in  Den- 
mark. The  passions,  motives,  and  ambitions  which  actuated 
the  men  and  women  of  the  time  are  portrayed  in  an  intense 
and  vivid  manner. 

The  style  of  the  book  is  very  dramatic.  Its  episodes  are 
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"An  extraordinary  document  that  reveals  the  feminine  soul 
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heart  the  street  waif,  vicious  in  every  fibre  of  his  unregener- 
ate,  defective  being.  Yes,  it  is  a  story  well  worth  the  work 
and  undeniably  interesting  in  content." 

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DION  CLAYTON  CALTHROP 


ST.  QUIN. 


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Edmond  St.  Quin,  having  seen  enough  of  Oxford  to  row  on 
the  'Varsity  crew,  is  sent  by  his  father  to  see  the  world. 
He  comes  back  after  five  years  of  a  wandering,  Bohemian  life, 
takes  up  the  fashions  of  the  day  in  a  moment,  and  marries  the 
beautiful  society  girl  who  is  chosen  for  him.  They  live  ac- 
cording to  their  rank  and  station  for  some  time  and  then 
Edmond  sickens  of  an  immortal  disease  whose  name  is  Ro- 
mance. He  had  caught  it  in  a  hill  town  in  Italy.  How  the 
iron  clutch  of  society  and  the  still  more  effectual  pull  of  ro- 
mance shape  the  lives  of  the  delightful  characters  in  this 
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charming  personality  and  distinctly  worth  reading  about." 

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heart  of  a  child  or  a  woman.  Perpetua  is  a  creation  that  will 
live  in  our  meories  long  after  we  have  forgotten  some  children 
and  women  we  have  really  met  and  known." 

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The  book  is  comprised  of  short  papers  on  various  sub- 
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into  unknown  regions.  The  joy  of  open  air  and  sunshine,  the 
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these  are  some  of  the  ingredients  of  Mr.  Calthrop's  prescrip- 
tion for  "the  blues";  one  taken  at  bedtime  will  be  found  an 
admirable  restorative  for  tired  heart  and  brain. 


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